Symphonic Abyss
by HappyBoo
Summary: Ending up on a planet 6 months away from Aulderant wasn't what Luke was expecting after deafeating Van. Agreeing to guard the Chosen, Luke desperatly tries to find a way back to Aulderant, no matter what the cost. (Adopted from Zerokai9)
1. Chapter 1: A Strange New World

**Author's Note:** **This story originally belonged to Zerokai9, I adopted it, and what you shall read is the first four chapters that have been rewritten, if you wish to read the original, please feel free. If there are any mistakes or the like, do not hesitate to point them out, otherwise, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: The Tales of series and its characters belong to Bandai Namco, the original idea belonged to Zerokai9.**

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 1: A Strange New World

Scattered. That would be the word Luke used to describe how it felt to be transported to another planet, not that he knew what was really happening anyway.

It most certainly what he expected after defeating his former swordsmaster, who tried to replicate a new world by destroying the old one, or after he said his final goodbye to his friends and comrades, nor when he set Lorelei free from the planets core. Then again, the young scion should have know, his adventures couldn't just 'end'. They didn't the first time.

Then, he felt. It took the young replica a while to believe it. He could actually feel the world around him. Luke didn't dare open his eyes, for fear that it was just an illusion, Lorelei trying to comfort him in death. Curiosity getting the better of him, the redhead tentatively opened his eyes. He couldn't help but smile, the sky was blue and there! He was lying on fresh, green grass, and could hear a nearby river. Though his joy quickly subsided when it dawned on him. Luke was alone.

Before being 'scattered', Luke had tried to bring Asch back. It was stupid and pointless he knew. The scion of Loreleis power could generate his own hyperressonance but couldn't heal. At the time, that didn't matter, his original deserved to live as much as him, perhaps even more. That was the last thing he remembered before a jumble of white and static, and then, nothing.

The redhead winced slightly as he sat up. Though not on the usual level of Lorelei induced headaches, it still hurt. But hey, pain meant he was alive right? Ignoring the nagging at the back of his mind, Luke stood up, looking around, trying to hopefully spot Asch and figure out where in Yulia's name they were. Unfortunately, no red in sight. Not only that, he didn't recognise the area.

Pushing away all the panic as best as he could, he remembered Tears words, a river lead to a road. That was how the two got out of Tataroo Valley after all.

Even being near a river, the young scion did not feel any better, on the contrary, his unease continued to grow. Luke didn't recognise anything around him. Where was he? Had he gone through time? No, that couldn't be possible could it? Then again, Luke was alive, wasn't he proof of the impossible? And Guy couldn't recognise Eldrant, even though it was a replica of Hod. He pondered such things until another detail caught his attention. Him. More specifically his hair, it was long again, like it was before Ak- no, no need to think about that right now. He needed to be more like Tear or Jade. Well, maybe not Jade… Luke shook his head. He needed to focus. No more distractions.

So channelling his inner Tear/Jade he looked at himself as best as he could without a mirror. He was still wearing his clothes from the fight before Van, the short white coat, black top underneath, same baggy pants and same boots. He still had his gloves on and strangely he still had The Key Of Lorelei, Jewel and all, attached to his waist. Hell, Luke still had his item bag, though missing quite a few things and a familiar Cheagle. All that had changed was his hair. Why though?

"Looks like I'll have to not use so many items." Luke mumbled absent-mindedly, remembering when Tear used to scold him for using too many. Why use items when you have two seventh fonists? Just thinking about Tear made Luke's heart skip a beat. He wanted to see her again, and to do that he needed to figure out where he was.

"Now, where am I?" He said. Thinking out loud helped organise his thoughts, and gave him the motivation to move. What Luke didn't expect however was the answer he got.

 **Somewhere not even I knew about.**

Of course no, Luke didn't jump. And no, he didn't make any noises. He was a noble, he had dignity! Then his brain caught up.

"Wait, Lorelei!" He shouted in suprise "Is that you?"

 **Yes, and please, no need to shout, all you need do is think and I shall hear.**

'Oh, okay. How can, you do that? Why can't you just materialise? And where am I?' Luke, understandably, panicked.

 **Relax my scion. I can tell you most of what you need to know by looking into this planets memory. However, I cannot tell you everything, only about events that have already happened and have shaped the world as well as people significant to history.**

'That kind of helps, I think.' Honestly the young noble was lost, but he wouldn't admit it.'So, how can you look into the planets memory, I thought you were the planets memory? Why can't you just materialise? And where am I, you said 'this planet', what does that mean?'

 **To put it simply, when you tried to heal your isofon, the instability of the fonons was too great and caused a hyperressonance. One of the biggest in all history I might add. It is the same phenomenon that happened with you and Yulia's descendant, only on a greater scale.**

'I caused a hyperressonance. Fine, the what?'

 **We were sent to another planet. Apparently, this one is called Sylvarant.**

'Wait, another planet! B-but how is that even possible? Can we even get back home? How is Aulderant without you? Hell, how can I survive here?'

 **Many other planets exist. Normally, I was meant to leave like the other sentiences, but I grew attached. Though it is strange that this planet does not use fonons.**

'No fonos! How am I still alive?'

 **Calm my isofon. Have faith that things shall be alright. And please do not interrupt incessantly. Good, now, this world does not use fonons, though** **they do exist. No it has a similar substance named 'mana'. Mana and fonons are only different in the fact that there are seven types of fonons, and no types of mana. For now I would rather not use any power, I have not had a form in many years, to materialise now would demand a great effort. Conversing with you like this is much easier. Oh and to answer your earlier question, time is different for every planet, it took you quite a while to get here even with a hyperressonance.**

'Thanks Lorelei, but that doesn't explain how to get home.'

 **Unfortunately, I do not know for now, but I suggest that if we are to stay here, you should go to a town and resupply, for there seems to be an abundance of monsters. To the south-east you shall find a town named Iselia. We should go there and decide our next course of action.**

Luke sighed. Too much information in one go. "Alright, I don't have many other options anyway." With those instructions in mind, Luke set out for Iselia, wondering just what this new world had to offer.

And it was pretty amazing. Sylvarant was actually very beautiful. In fact, it was very similar to Aulderant. Lush green fields, blues skies, eye catching scenery, it was an amazing sight and left Luke feeling almost… nostalgic? To keep his mind from going down darker paths, the young replica decided to ask the sentience of the Seventh Fonon more about this mysterious new planet.

The sentience was more than happy to oblige

 **To start, the living beings of Sylvarant consist of humans, elves, dwarfs, half-elves, as well as various monsters.**

Luke had to physically stop to process this new information 'Elves? Dwarves!? Aren't they just in fairy tales?'

 **According to the planets memory elves and dwarves have existed for as long as Sylvarant itself.**

'Okay?' It was a strange thought that fairy tales really existed. Then again Luke himself was a replica and would be a hypocrite to think that. It was still too confusing. 'So, what else can you tell me? Any more about elves and dwarves.' Luke asked curiously, not caring that his inner seven year old showing.

 **Sadly, half-elves are widely discriminated against. Why this started is unknown, but the main reason the hatred is so large is due to the fact that because of the racism they suffer, a group of radical half-elves called 'Desians' capture humans and force them to work in camps called Human Ranches. There, humans are either worked to, starved, or tortured to death.**

'That's horrible! Is there one near Iselia?' Now the redhead was afraid of being captured and being worked to death.

 **Yes. I would advise you to stay away from the ranch. Iselia has a non-aggression** **treaty with the** **ranch to not attack each other and I would like for you to look like a regular person.**

It angered Luke, all those people stuck inside the ranch and he couldn't do a thing! Saving them condemned the village. Damn it, it felt so bad not being able to help those in front of him!

The redhead didn't have much time to dwell on such thoughts as something rustled in the bushes behind him.

Turning, his hand racing to the Key, he saw… a dog? In fact Luke wasn't even sure it was a dog. Firstly, it was BIG, like, four times the size of a wolf. Secondly, it had white fur, a green mane and very large ears, not very normal for a dog. The scion was honest to Yulia lost about what to do. The dog wasn't aggressive, if anything it was familiar?

"Dagnabit Noishe! What will it take ye to… hm?"

A stout man came out of the bushes after the strange, dog, he had busy eyebrows and a thick goatee. He seemed quite surprised to see Luke.

"Ah, sorry about that! Noishe wasn't botherin' ye was he?"

It took most of Luke's will not to comment on his accent. Luke was the alien after all. "Um, no. I just heard your, uh, pet behind me and thought he was a monster."

"Sorry. He does that from time ta time." the man said before eyeing the redhead up and down "Now pardon me askin', but what are ye doing out here? Its not the safest place ta walk around, given all the monsters an' all."

"Well, I was on my way to Iselia. Am I going in the right direction?" Luke asked heading Loreleis words of appearing normal.

This perked the other man up "Yes, as a matter of fact! Just keep headin' south, and you'll see the town in no time." The man seemed oddly enthusiastic about helping a complete stranger.

"Okay! Thank you, uh…?" Luke stopped, realising neither had introduced themselves.

The stranger picked up on this. "The name's Dirk"

"Luke, Grants!"Luke lied. His last name, fon Fabre would be too flamboyant for a low profile. And Grants was the first name he could come up with "Thank you." he quickly added.

A grin spread across Dirks face "No problem. Dwarven vow #2 : Never abandon someone in need!"

Dwarven vow…? "You're a dwarf?" The redhead blurted, internally cringing at his own blunder.

All the cheeriness disappeared in an instant, "Yeah. Is there somethin' wrong with that?" Said dwarfs voice lowered into an almost threatening tone.

"No!" the young noble quickly replied "I've just never seen a dwarf before."

All the tension in the air vanished as Dirk seemed less threatening. "Ah sorry. No harm done. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work." With those last words, the dwarf Dirk walked away. His dog, Noishe, seemed to hesitate but quickly followed his master.

'That was... interesting. So that's what a dwarf looks like.' It made Luke excited to explore the rest of Sylvarant. How would the others react when he told them he wondered. Not everyday you got to explore a foreign planet.

A gate could be seen in the distance as Luke continued down the pathway. That had to be Iselia! Happy to have finally found the village, his pace quickened with a spring in his step.

The young noble almost laughed at the two guards, the way they looked him over. Honestly if Luke wanted to, he could take them both out no problem.

 **I would advise against that.**

'I know, I know.'

Iselia reminded Luke of Engeve. They were both small rural towns, except Iselia seemed to be a bit bigger. Then again, it had been a while since he had been to Engeve. The replica wondered if Rose was still the mayor, and how the Cheagles were doing? Had Mieu gone back to the forest or had Tear taken him hostage? As he walked through the village, watching the people around him, he noticed the odd stares he was receiving, the kids playing with sticks stopped to stare, and the adults gave him suspicious glances. Why?

 **Your hair…**

The redhead grumbled at Lorelei, the sentience was right, everyone seemed to have brown or blond hair, no one had red hair, nor did any of the men have hair that fell down their backs… He shook the stares off, Luke was a noble and should be used to the stares, red was the symbol of the royal family of Kimlasca after all. Then again, on his other journey, he had people with him, people who let him forget the stares…

No, don't get like this again, Luke shook his head of the bad thoughts. Ever since Akzeriuth and the Tower of Rem, they had a bad habit of sneaking up on him. Very quickly however, the young noble was lost in thought again, mostly about which provisions to buy, and failed to notice where he was walking. Of course Lorelei tried to warn him, but it didn't change a thing, Luke still walked straight into someone.

The stranger was the first to recover, and helped our young hero up.

"Sorry! Didn't see where I was going there! Are you okay?" The stranger asked, his worry genuine.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Luke replied, what was with people saying sorry to him today?

The stranger who helped him up seemed happy with that. He appeared to be a year younger than Luke, with brown hair that spiked upwards towards the right of his face. The noble knew he didn't have the most common of clothes, but the boys were even stranger in his opinion, the boy was wearing a long sleeved bright red shirt, that had a lot of buttons. The shirt was also collared, with a white scarf, and he had suspenders attached to black trousers, belts to hold his swords, red gloves and boots. His love of red rivalled even Asch.

But there was something about him, just by looking Luke could tell that somehow this boy was special.

"Hey, are you new to Iselia? I haven't seen you here before. I'm Lloyd." The newly introduced Lloyd said with a smile.

"Yes, I've never been here before, and my name is Luke." He wasn't going to repeat the Grants problem.

"Wow, cool name!" Lloyd replied cheerfully. He just seemed so happy.

"Thanks? Anyway, I'm a traveller, I was just stopping by to restock my supplies and to find a place to stay for the night. Maybe some work if I'm lucky." Work would be a great way to easily get information after all.

"You've come to the wrong place if you want work, a part from monster hunting, there isn't much to do." the brunette pondered, Iselia was a quiet farming town.

"Well it's lucky I'm good with a sword!" Luke replied. Coming to Iselia, he hadn't met any monsters, not counting the dog. He wanted to see if his swordsmanship was still as good as before.

"Really! Not many people know how to fight around here, I had to teach myself." Lloyd was like a puppy, excited by the little things. "But if you want a job, you'll have to go see the mayor, come on I'll show you."

Luke was going to say something when his newfound companion cut him off. "Dwarven vow #2: Never abandon someone in need!"

Well it looked like Luke's luck had taken a turn for the better.

It didn't last long. Lloyd was a nice kid, but the redhead did not want to get dragged all over the place. Jade had already done that enough for one lifetime.

"Here is the schoolhouse, I don't really like it here." Lloyd said oblivious to his companions mood. At his words, Luke looked up, he hadn't ever been to school, but his tutors were annoying, so he could somewhat understand.

The two walked around some more, before arriving in the west side of town close to where Luke had first walked in. They had gone everywhere but the mayors. Why? Not noticing Luke's ever so slight annoyance, the brunette continued his tour. "And here, is the Sage's house. My teacher and her brother live here."

As if answering Lloyd's announcement, a young sounding voice called out to the two boys "Hey Lloyd! What're you doing here?" The two looked over to see a kid, a little shorter than Anise walk up to them. He had silver hair like Ginji, only the kids was longer. He also wore a sky blue short-sleeved sweater over a black shirt, sky blue shorts with weird white glyphs on them, and black and blue shoes. Now, if Luke had to guess, he would say that the kids favourite colour was blue.

The young boy suddenly stopped, staring at the redhead. "Who're you?" he asked, seeming suspicious of Luke.

Of course, Lloyd butted in for his new friend "This is Luke! He's looking for work or something, so I'm showing him around."

"Right, next you'll invite him, a stranger, to your house since the inn is pretty terrible." the silverette snarked.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea, I would be following the vows."

"That's your excuse for everything."

The two boys squabbled for a bit longer, with Luke forgotten to the side. He could just go back to town and ask where the mayor's was. That would have been the easy way out. But the redhead didn't think he could try and sneak away, Lloyd seemed to detect any thoughts of fleeing.

"Oh right!" he chirped up in the middle of his concussion, "Luke, this is my best friend Genis!"

"Hello. I'm Genis Sage. I live in that house." he said, as though he was bored.

The brunette satisfied that Luke wouldn't run away just yet, or at least that was what what Luke thought, turned back to his friend "Anyway, have you seen Colette anywhere?"

"She'd said that she and Phaidra were going to the Martel Temple to do some church stuff, and won't be back until late this afternoon."

"Okay, we'll just talk to her tomorrow. By the way, did you need us for something." Lloyd asked, after all, it was Genis who called out to them, well, to Lloyd.

The young boys smile turned wicked. A little like Syncs. "Oh yeah. Raine said she wanted to talk to you about your behaviour in class today. She's in the schoolhouse right now, and doesn't want you to be late."

Whoever this Raine person was must have been terrifying as the brunettes face completely drained of any colour once he heard that. "Oh, ah, tell the professor I'll be with her in a moment." he said with a sheepish grin as he inched away.

"Do you want me to tell her you ran away?" Genis continued with a grin.

Lloyd gave up with a huff "I'm going, I'm going!" he mumbled as he walked away leaving Luke behind.

"Hey, don't take it personally what I said to Lloyd. He may be an idiot, but he's still a good person. Accept the invite. I wouldn't be friends with him if he wasn't."

"It's alright." Luke sighed "Could you just point me to the mayors place. Apparently, I need to ask him for a job?"

"Let me guess, Lloyd dragged you all over the place?" The silverette asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes."

Genis laughed "Come on, it's this way."

It seemed that Lloyd was right, the only job available was monster hunting, not that Luke minded, getting rid of monsters had become second nature. And the mayor was all too happy that someone was willing to get rid of them. So the young noble went to some fields outside of the village, and waited. Monsters always came out, even if it seemed like a trap.

The first one was a pack of wolves.

"Alright." Luke grinned as he unsheathed the Key Of Lorelei "Let's see if my skills have gotten rusty."

The wolves ran at our redhead, all suspecting an easy prey, all alone from a tiny village. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for Luke, he still remembered all his artes. A white shockwave appeared after Luke swang up, sending one of the unsuspecting wolves sprawling. The next one tried to imitate his now dead companion, only attacking from the side instead of a frontal strike, but the young noble blocked and pushed forward, before he thrust his blade at the beast. Not giving the last wolf the chance to do anything, Luke charged, bringing his blade up using the momentum to jumps higher, to the fall and stab the final monster in its skull.

Luke stared at the monsters in front, their bodies laying still on the ground. It made the reality of what he did more real when he was on his own. In the end something's didn't change. Though a necessity, Luke still didn't like killing, monsters or not.

Well, the mayor did ask for the skins…

A few gruesome minutes later, more monsters having attacked as he was 'dealing' with the wolves. Luke had had enough of natures laws for one day. To keep his mind off what he was doing as he disposed of the bodies, the replica thought back over his battle, his techniques instantly killing what would have been difficult at the start of his last journey. He was still going strong.

 **Yes, it appears you are, even your fonons are no longer separating. This gives us a big advantage.**

'What?'

 **It is as I said, your fonons are no longer separating. It must be due to the large amount of Seventh Fonons used in the hyperressonance. They must have filled void, rendering your body more stable.**

'You're not joking right? I'm, I'm not going to die.'

 **No my isofon, you are not.**

All of the fatigue had slipped away at those words. Luke wasn't going to die. Part of him had a hard time believing that. No matter what he did though, his smile would not go away. When he got home and told everyone, their faces would be the funniest thing he had ever seen. He could finally hope for a future with Tear.

Wow he was really nostalgic. Luke barely finished the thought when more monsters couldn't learn from their companions mistakes.

As the last one fell, a voice called out to Luke "Excuse me, sir?"

It surprised the young noble to see people outside the village at all. Especially what seemed to be clergy men and women. The two men in the back and the older woman in the front whom he guessed was the one to call out to him were in a triangle formation around a younger blond girl, dressed in clothes similar to that of the order of Lorelei.

"Yes?" Luke replied, sheathing his weapon, they didn't look dangerous. Then again, neither did Anise, or Tear, or Nathalia, or Ion… "Who are you?"

The old woman smiled "I'm sorry sir, but may I ask you something?"

Well, this wasn't at all suspicious. "What is it?"

Before the older lady could ask, one of the acolytes spoke "Phaidra, do you really think you should ask this of him? This is an important task."

The name Phaidra seemed familiar to Luke. "Why? What are you asking?" he questioned, it must have something to do with the young girl in the centre. He got the same feeling from her as the one he got from Lloyd and Genis.

"Well, sir-" The old woman, Phaidra started, before the replica cut her off.

"Luke. Luke is just fine." he stated. No sirs or whatever, he wasn't a noble out here.

Phaidra continued unbothered by Luke's interruption "Well, Luke, my name is Phaidra, and I am a priestess at the Martel Temple near Iselia." she introduced herself "And in case you didn't know, the Journey of Regeneration is but a few days away."

Luke was understandably, a little lost. He was, for lack of a better term an alien to this world. Just what was this Journey of Regeneration. Luckily for Luke, he had access to the worlds biggest database. Lorelei.

 **The Journey of Regeneration is when a person known as the Chosen makes a pilgrimage around various temples in Sylvarant in order to keep the world from dying. The importance of the Chosen in Sylvarant is on the same level as Fon Master Ion.**

"-will you accept?"

The words brought the replica out of his lecture "I'm sorry, I zoned out. What was the question?" Luke asked. Feeling the sudden disapproval of the clergymen. None the less, the priestess repeated herself.

"Will you accept the responsibility of protecting the Chosen during her Journey of Regeneration?"

Luke paused, she was offering the job of protecting the most important person in the world to a random stranger whom she had just learned the name of. "Why me?" Luke asked, it was all he could think of asking.

"Phaidra thought that you were a skilled swordsman after watching you kill those monsters." One of the men in the back said, "And we were having a difficult job of finding mercenaries who would work cheaply, so she decided to ask you."

Luke was taken aback. He was going to get dragged off on another quest to save the world, wasn't he? "Okay. I'm flattered that you think I'm skilled enough to guard the Chosen, but… can you give me some time to think about it? This is really overwhelming."

"That is fine." The old woman said, though her expression was as if she already knew the answer "Try to give us your answer by Wednesday please? That is when the Chosen leaves. Do you have a place to stay? We could book you a room at the inn."

The redhead was surprised by the offer, but wasn't one to refuse. Inns were always expensive when you really needed one. "Thank you. That is very kind." he thanked trying not to sound too eager.

With their mission done, the four left Luke to his monster killing business. However, the young girl who had been silent up until that point turned around with a smile and waved "Goodbye Mr. Luke!"

Luck really wasn't on Luke's side, giving him no time to sort through his thoughts, or even talk it out with Lorelei, when a familiar red wearing, dual wielding, self taught swordsman came barrelling through the surrounding bush.

"Hey Luke! I am so sorry, I ended up breaking the vow. I was supposed to help-" Lloyd ranted much to the other boys suprise.

"Lloyd, Lloyd! It's okay, Genis took me afterwards anyway." Luke tried, but it didn't seem to help.

"You don't understand! I broke a Dwarven Vow! Dad will kill me…" This continued on for a few minutes, until the younger swordsman got a bright idea. "I know! You're a traveller, so you don't have a place to stay, right?"

"Actually I-"

"The inn is terrible so you can stay with me!"

"But won't-"

"Dad won't mind. I'm following the vows! Seriously he'd kick my butt if he heard otherwise."

So somehow, Luke got dragged away by Lloyd. Again. At least he didn't have to pay for anything. And he could keep his monster gald.

Skits:

-New World:

Luke (Nervous): Sylvarant, huh? I wonder, do the inhabitants speak my language? Is there a new currency I'll have to get used to? (Confident Smile) Well then, guess I'll just have to adapt! (Sad) I just hope I'll be able to get back home.

-Discrimination:

Luke: So there's discrimination here too? Man, I guess all worlds have their problems. (Sad face) But still, even though humans treat half-elves badly, the Desians forcing them to work til' death will only make things worse.

Lorelei: My scion, it would do you well to not caught up in Sylvarant's problems. Our goal at hand is to return to Aulderant. We don't want to seem suspicious.

Luke (Eyes close, looking down): I know, but… *sigh* I just wish I could do something. It's just like the discrimination against replicas.

-Getting to know you:

Luke: So, you live here in Iselia Lloyd?

Lloyd: Nah, I live out of town. My friends live in Iselia, and I go to school here, so that's why I'm usually here. Where are you from, Luke?

Luke (surprised): Uh… I'm… from…

Lloyd: Hey if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. What do you normally do?

Luke: I like to practice swordplay. I'd say I'm an okay swordsman.

Lloyd: Cool! Could you spar with me sometime?

Luke: Sure, why not?

-The mysteries of Gald:

Luke: Lorelei, there is something I have always wondered.

Lorelei: Yes my isofon?

Luke: Why do monsters drop gald?

Lorelei: …

Luke (worried): Lorelei? Are you still there?

Lorelei: Yes, Luke. I'm sorry. There are some questions that I just cannot answer.

Luke (annoyed): What does that even mean?

Lorelei: That some things must remain as they are, a mystery.

Luke: … Then where does gald even come from?

Lorelei: So many mysteries…

Luke : …

 **AN:** **Thank you so much for reading, the next update should be on the 9/10/2017**


	2. Chapter 2: Luke's Decision

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 2:

Having gotten roped into staying with Lloyd till, at maximum Wednesday, Luke and the younger swordsman walked all the way to the villages southern gate. It didn't take long, and in all honesty wasn't difficult for either boy since the monsters were so weak. They also saw Lloyd's dog Noishe, that Luke had previously encountered. The abnormally large dog whined upon seeing his master, Lloyd didn't seem to care as he petted him.

"Hey Noishe! It's nice to see you." He said with a small smile.

The dog then turned to Luke, not making a sound, but seeming to expect something.

"Huh? Hey Luke, do you know Noishe?" Lloyd asked, curious. Why would Noishe want a stranger to pet him?

"Not on a personal level, but yes. He tried to sneak up on me as I was going to Iselia, but I caught him. His owner then came up, and I asked him for directions." the redhead explained.

His answer surprised the brunette, the mercenary had really gotten around a lot in one day, mostly due to his intervention. "Oh! So you met Dad!"

Lloyd watched Luke's face change a few times, the most prominent emotion was confusion, "Wait, that dwarf was your Dad? B-but… you're human, and he's-"

"Dirk is my father, even though we aren't related by blood, and Noishe is our dog." He explained simply, because in Lloyd's logic it was simple. Dirk was his Dad, and that was the end of it.

"Oh, that makes sense.." Luke said, then knelt down to stroke the dog who had been waiting for what felt like four thousand years to finally be stroked.

The younger swordsman's eyes widened "Wow, normally Noishe doesn't like strangers. I guess he knows you're friendly because he's seen you before." He tried to explain, though in all honesty, even he didn't truly believe that.

Soon enough, the two passed in front of a heavily guarded steel building. The Human Ranch. It disgusted Lloyd still, who was used to the sight, he dare not imagine what it would be like for Luke, it was his first time seeing one. People who generally saw a Ranch were on the inside.

"We're not allowed to go there." Lloyd reminded the redhead, just in case, Luke did seem ready to jump in and tear the building down.

And truthfully, Luke would have had it not been for the aggression treaty, it reminded him too much of Van and his replica soldiers. Yet somehow, he couldn't think which was worse, he couldn't figure out which was worse. In the end, both the humans in the Ranch and the replicas were little more than tools, disposable once their purpose fulfilled.

Neither said any more as they hurried by, the road quiet save for the occasional whine from Noishe when a monster got too close. It gave Luke the chance to think a little about his new companion, he had never seen a dual swordsman before. From what he had seen, the boy was self-taught, no sort of training in any style, more of a hit till it falls. But two swords were still very effective, with some training, Lloyd could probably become a great swordsman. Though, up until now Luke had been helping the brunette with any fights and was curious to see how he would fare on his own. Luckily, so did someone else, for he had barely finished the thought that a monster appeared, more than one in fact.

"Hey Lloyd, show me what you can do in battle." Luke said, as he hung back, the Key in it's sheath.

Of course his headstrong companion loved the idea of challenge, and accepted with a vigorous nod. "Don't worry, this will be a piece of cake!"

His opponents were a Rabbit and two Giant Bees. Not too hard, the bees would be the most annoying with their ability to fly, so he focused on the Rabbit first. He charged swinging his swords in his most effective way, right swing, left swing, then thrust a them, occasionaly using an arte. The one problem with his strategy Luke noted was his inability to block due to his entire focus being on whacking it very hard. Though for someone self-taught, it wasn't half bad, and though he didn't do much, Master Van still taught Luke the basics. On his own, Luke would have been useless when he started. He had been.

Lloyd finished the Rabbit, before turning to the giant insect, not noticing the one that had circled him. The redhead noticed on the other hand, and quickly attacked it so it wouldn't get the drop on Lloyd, his back was exposed enough. The insect didn't even have time to process what was going on.

The dual swordsman turned to his new friend with a grin. "See? I can fight!"

"yeah, you can." Luke acknowledged before stepping away from the second bees corpse. "Gotta be more careful though."

"Wait, when did that get there!?"

For once, it wasn't Luke being taught something.

Lloyd's house wasn't what Luke had expected it to be when the brunette said his father was a dwarf. Then again, the replica had only met a real dwarf earlier that day, and otherwise had heard of them only in fairy tales, so really, he had no expectations. A part from maybe some rocks, or a mountain. Not a wooden house, in a forest, with a stream right next to it.! At least Dirk had a beard and was short.

Speaking of Dirk, the reintroductions with the old dwarf went well. As long as the dwarven vows were kept, things would be smooth. Luke still didn't understand what even were the dwarven vows, but that didn't matter.

Of course though, Lloyd wanted to drag Luke around again, at least time time they were in a house and not a village. "C'mon Luke! I'll show you my room! It's just upstairs."

Luke had lived in a mansion for all of his short seven years, but his room still seemed relatively small compared to Lloyd's, which was by the way, entire second floor with a balcony.

"Where does your dad sleep?" the redhead asked without thinking, he was curious.

The dual swordsman raised an eyebrow "Why?"

"Cause your room is the first floor." Luke dead panned.

"That's not normal?"

"Oh. I guess it is strange. Dad's bedroom is downstairs."

This time, the older boy did not voice his thoughts.

"So, Luke," Lloyd began as he changed the subject "how long do you think you'll be staying in Iselia?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, ah," Luke started, he hadn't told the younger boy about Phaidra's proposal. Knowing better than to keep it a secret, he decided to recount the events that had happened earlier that day.

"Wait, Colette's grandmother asked you guard her?"

"Who's Colette?"

Lloyd was taken slightly aback, how couldn't he know who Colette was? Then he reasoned that it was because he hadn't lived in Iselia. "She's my friend, and the Chosen. She was there right? Blue eyes, blonde hair? You should have seen her."

"That was the Chosen!?" Well, that explained the triangle formation made by the priests.

"Yeah. Don't worry about her being mean. Saying she's mean is like saying the Desians are our saviours. So are you gonna protect her?"

"Um, maybe? I'm still not sure."

Lloyd was surprised yet again. Why wouldn't anyone not want the job of protecting the Chosen, especially when they're a traveller who can fight, it wouldn't really change much would it? "Hey I think you should. After seeing what you can do today, it should be easy!"

Luke desperately tried to ignore the oncoming blush, embarrassed by the praise. He muttered a small thank you.

"Alright, if you think you decide to protect Colette, tell me tomorrow. For now, I'll sleep on the floor."

Luke tried to refuse, but Lloyd wouldn't listen, something about the Dwarven Vows again. That attitude made the redhead smile. For some reason it was like talking to a less mature Guy. Their kindness was very similar and special. If Luke couldn't get back home, at least someone here would accept him, a total stranger.

Once the day finally ended and everyone was asleep, Luke snuck outside onto the balcony, the stars were a friendly reminder of home, and had always helped clear his head in the past.

'Lorelei, what do you think I should do? About becoming the Chosen's guardian.' If anything would have some wisdom, it would be a godlike being.

 **Well, in order to make a decision, I think you should know a little more about the Journey of Regeneration. First, the Chosen must receive a blessing from an angle of Cruxis, the organisation of the angles, who would come down on the Chosen's 16** **th** **birthday and ask the Chosen if he or she will accept the task of regenerating the world. Should the Chosen accept the Tower Of Salvation shall appear in Sylvarant.** **But, before going to the Tower, the Chosen must unlock the four seals across the world. In doing so, he or she shall gain the power of the angles, but at the cost of their humanity.**

'What!? Colette has to sacrifice her humanity for the sake of the world?'

 **Yes. Now once all this is complete, the door to the Tower of Salvation shall open, and, once the Chosen is at the top, they will become an angel themselves. He or she will then ascend to the heavens, and Sylvarant is regenerated.**

'And if the Chosen fails?'

 **Sylvarant will die, becoming nothing more than a barren wasteland.**

In Luke's opinion, having suffered the same type of responsibility, he had a lot of respect for Colette. Yet at the same time he was disgusted, why would there always be sacrifices? But there was still one thing that bugged him. 'Why are you telling me this.'

 **If the Planets Memory is correct, I propose a theory that the angels of Cruxis may know of Aulderant,** **or at least a way to travel. Keep in mind that this is a theory, and might not work. So choose carefully, if you decide to become Colette's guardian.**

The redheads mind was racing. He had to take the chance if he wanted to get home. It was risky, but, currently there was no other option. And if the angels didn't know a way then Luke would have to think of a new way. Simple as that.

As he calmed down, sleep still evading him, Luke reflected on his day, if he wanted to get home, he would have to be smart. It had been a long day, technically, when he woke up that morning, he had set of on the Albiore to fight Van. Now, here he was in a strange world, with the Seventh Fonon stuck in his head, Asch was gone… His originals body was nowhere to be found. Luke knew it was futile, he was the replica after all. Though a better swordsman, his fonic abilities weren't really as good. But that didn't matter, he tried anyway, calling out to Asch through his 'link'. As usual, there was nothing. No feeling, no stray thoughts, dreams, nothing. The redhead sighed starring at his hands, at least Master Van was, dead. And Tear wasn't alone, she had friends now. Man he really needed some sleep, today he was kind of nostalgic. With one final nod, determined to get home. Luke went to bed, his dreams strangely, were of things he had never seen before, nor would he remember when awake.

It was noon when he finally awoke. It seemed like Luke would never dispel his bad sleeping habits on his own. Lloyd on the other hand was already awake and dressed.

"Hey Lloyd, what're you doing today?" Luke asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Well, since school is out on Saturdays and Sunday, I typically go see Genis or Colette. Why?"

"I decided. I'm going to protect Colette on the Journey of Regeneration." The confidence in Luke's voice surprised even himself.

And it only made Lloyd grin. "That's great Luke! You, me, Genis and the Professor, assisting Colette as she saves the world!"

The young boys words were so hopeful, the redhead didn't have the heart to correct him, to tell him that he step up his sword skills to be Colette's guardian. Instead, he did what Jade did, and changed the subject.

"Okay, so, can you bring me to Colette's house? I want to tell Phaidra that I'm accepting her offer."

Lloyd nodded, and after having breakfast, both boys and dog left for Iselia. The dual swordsman took Luke to the only two-story house in the village. Once Lloyd had finished knocking, the door opened to a young blond haired girl, the same girl Luke saw the day before with Phaidra, he assumed that she was the Chosen, Colette.

"Hey Colette, how are you doing?" The brunette asked, his smile seemed to grow even wider.

"Oh, Lloyd!" She said happily, then, looked over in surprise at the other boy. "And Mr Luke too! Are you here about Grandmothers proposal?"

Internally, Luke sighed. What was with the Misters, and Sirs? "First off," He started "Luke is fine. Secondly yes, I'm here for Phaidra's proposal. Where is she?"

"She'll be down soon. She is just getting dressed." The young Chosen then realised that both boys were still standing outside. "Oh, come in please! I'm having breakfast. Have you two already eaten?"

"Yes, we ate before coming." Lloyd answered. And Luke let him. He noticed how the two seemed happier in each others presence. "How long will your grandma be?"

"She should be down in a few minuets." Colette said as she let everyone inside. The three sat down at the table and began to talk.

"So Lloyd, how long have you and Luke known each other?" She was very surprised at seeing the two together.

"I met Lloyd yesterday. He guided me around, but forgot to show me where I wanted to go." Luke began "Then, feeling guilty afterwards, he forced me to stay with him."

Lloyd nodded, his cheeks tinged pink "Yep, that's about it."

Before any more discussion a voice called from up the stairs. "Colette, dear, is someone here?"

Phaidra, still wearing her priestess dress came down the stairs, she smiled as she saw the two swordsmen. "Ah, Lloyd, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine!" Lloyd replied with his usual smile.

The old woman then turned to Luke "And you Luke, good to see you. Have you made your decision yet?"

"Yeah" Luke said with a determined nod. "I've made up my mind. I'll help protect Colette."

The two women seemed very pleased with his answer, though one noticeably more than the other.

"That's wonderful Luke." the older woman said "It truly does lighten a heavy burden. But are you sure? It's a long and ard-"

Before she could finish her explanation, the newly appointed Chosen Guardian interjected. "It's fine I've been travelling for over a year now. So I'm kind of used to it. The question is if Colette is up for the Journey."

"I have training for this since I was young. I'm ready for it." said Chosen answered.

"Alright the, is there anything else I need to know about the Journey?" the redhead asked, and considering what happened on Aulderant, a kidnapping turned world saving expedition, he needed to know everything Lorelei couldn't.

"Yes there is" Phaidra replied. "First off, we need to let the mayor know about you accepting, though he might need some convincing of your abilities. Also you are not the only one accompanying the Chosen."

"Really? Who else is coming?"

"Colette and Lloyd's schoolteacher Raine Sage. Raine is an elf and knows some healing magic, so she will be going with you as a healer."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Just one last thing, Luke. The Journey of Regeneration will start in one week, the day Colette receives the oracle. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Fantastic. Now Luke, Colette, could you follow me to the mayor's house? I need to tell him you are ready to guard Colette." Phaidra said as she started towards the door, but stopped turning to Lloyd who had been quiet the entire time. "Oh I almost forgot, Lloyd? Since you are here could you be a dear and tell me at the mayor's."

"Yeah, no problem." he said, though he seemed a little dejected.

The mayor seemed more than delighted, noticing the decrease in monsters in the surrounding area. And the two quickly agreed at on a price, but if another came up with a lower price , Luke would be fired. Not that that even mattered.

Sometime in the middle of the agreement, Lloyd came in with a silver haired lady who was identified as the Raine person Phaidra had mentionned earlier. For a teacher, she looked really young, only a couple of years older than Guy, then again, she was an elf so who knew how old she really was. When she was told that Luke he would be joining her guarding Colette, the silverette disapproved completely. It took a lot to convince her but she eventually subsided that Luke was good enough for the job. Then the interview happened, and Luke got a familiar shiver go up his spine, the same shiver that happened when Jade studied him. Raine kept on glancing at the disturbed redhead.

When all that was over, and Luke thought that he could finally breath, Raine walked up to him. "Luke, could I ask you a few questions?"

If Luke could have answered without seeming suspicious, he would have "Sure, what's up?" Acting casual was not something that an ex-sheltered noble was at.

She didn't seem to approve of Luke's attempts, judging by the stern look on her face. "Who are you exactly?"

Luckily, one year of Jade had taught Luke the usefulness of composure, so he only internally flinched.

"What do you mean? I'm Luke Grants, a wandering swordsman. Simple as that."

The two stared at each other down for a few seconds, before Raine broke out into a cunning smile. "Well Luke, I hope you're up for the responsibility of guarding Colette. Just remember that Colette failing could be her fault as well as ours."

Luke nodded in understanding. "Right, I'll remember that."

Seeming satisfied with that, Raine turned away.

 **That Sage woman could prove to be troublesome. She seems to suspect you of not being of this world. According to the Planets Memory,** **elves and half-elves can tell different species apart from one another by observing the mana signatures. Since you are from a planet without mana, she might be able to see you are different.**

'Do you think she knows for sure?'

 **Do I look like I can read minds?**

Before Luke could answer, Lloyd, Colette and that Genis kid from the day before walked up. Lloyd was the first to congratulate the older swordsman. "Nice job Luke! The mayor seemed to be impressed which is really rare. You'll make a great guardian."

Colette then added "I look forward to travelling with you Mr Luke." However even though she smiled it didn't reach her eyes, they were almost sad. It reminded the redhead of Ion, when he told Luke and his friends the darker part of the Score, and the Order of Lorelei.

Genis stared at Luke for a second, then with just a hint of heavy sarcasm. "I just hope Raine doesn't drive you crazy."

This remark caused Luke to raise an eyebrow "Why is that?"

"You'll see why." Was all that Genis said and was enough a mini Jade with more emotion, and messes less with people.

To avoid more sarcasm and vagueness, the young noble turned to Colette. "So what now? Do I just wait until you receive the Oracle?"

"Pretty much yes. You will have to accompany me whenever I go outside the village though."

"I'm cool with that." Luke tilted hos head up watching the sky. "So seven days until the journey begins."

Seven days until Luke could start the process of getting back to Aulderant. Though, that was one thought Luke didn't share.

And Yulia above those seven days were long! Seven days of killing monsters, and accompanying Colette to the Martel Temple, the day of the Oracle couldn't have come sooner.

Around the village, it could have been considered a normal day. Yet a certain buzz in the air told anyone that this was far from a normal day. Still, Lloyd, Colette and Genis had to go to school. If it was such an important day, why weren't any of the kids having the day off? And of course, because he was Colette's guardian, and it was such a special day Luke had to go with her. Secretly, he was kind of excites. It was the first time he had been to school.

With ten minutes to kill before class began, Luke left Lloyd and Colette alone and decided to explore the school. Inside, Raine and Genis were setting up for the lesson, the Professor looked up from her plan, surprised to see anyone was early. Unfortunately for her, it was just Luke.

"Ah Luke. Are you going to be joining us for today?"

"Yeah, Phaidra asked me to be here in case the Oracle happened during class."

"That's alright, I think I have a spare desk, so you can sit there." her face suddenly darkened "Oh, and please try to pay attention. Even though you're only here for one day, I will not tolertae any disruptions in class."

Genis laughed with a smirk. "You'd better listen to my sister Luke. Just ask Lloyd. I'm sure he has a lot of stories about being caught not paying attention."

The smirk got wiped off when his sister smacked him upside the head. "That's enough Genis." Raine then turned to Luke and pointed at a desk in the back of the classroom. "That seat is open, so you can sit there."

Without much else to do, Luke sat down patiently. For about two minutes, before being bored out of his mind. He glanced around, unable to keep still. Various books sat on the tables, pictures drawn by some of the students were hung up on the wall. Raine herself was writing some lessons down on the chalkboard. About everything he had read on typical schools back in Aulderant was there.

Eventually, Raine noticed Luke glancing around. "Is there something wrong Luke?"

"Sorry, I'll stop. I was home schooled, so this is the first time in a classroom."

The Professors education senses were tingling "Why is that? Every child deserves a proper education." It was very suspicious.

"My mother was hesitant about letting me out of my house. I've really only been let out on my own a couple of times." Luke answered truthfully. After all, it wasn't lying if you didn't mention everything.

Raine seemed even more suspicious "And do they know about you wandering around Sylvarant?"

"Yeah. I guess you could say that being able to go out on my own was my present for turning seventeen."

The older woman stopped her questioning, but that didn't stop Luke from getting the feeling that she didn't trust him. And they were going to journey together. That would be fun.

After another ten minutes, the student finally started to pour into the room. There was only around fifteen kids, which seemed, in the young nobles opinion, a pretty small number. Lloyd sat two seats away on the right, and in his eternal good mood flashed Luke a thumbs up, whiwh Luke could not help but return. An eternity later, class began. And it was still just as boring.

A quick introduction of Luke to the rest of the class, Raine started to talk about Mithos the Hero, which they had been studying for the past week. Luke however wanted something a little more detailed, so, of course, he asked Lorelei

 **Mithos was a hero who lived 4000 years ago, around the time of Sylvarants creation. It is said that he sealed away the Desians, prevented a global war, and made a pact with Martel to make sure that the mana in the world will flourish. In some ways, he could be considered the first Chosen.**

'...And?'

 **Unfortunately, that is all I have to say on the subject.**

'Okaay.'

So much for a more detailed story. Plus it was everything Raine was teaching, so Luke just pretended to listen as he glanced around the room yet again. Noticing that Lloyd was doing the exact same thing. Great minds must think alike, or at least for a while, because at least Luke had the sense not to fall asleep and be caught. Perks of having a living god in your mind. Lloyd was not so lucky. He was caught sleeping. Twice. Which earned him a smack upside the head. And for not paying attention, Raine got angry and threw a piece of chalk at him, knocking the swordsman off his chair. Eventually, Lloyd was forced to stand at the back of the room with two full buckets of water in each hand. Somehow, by some miracle, Lloyd still fell asleep standing still holding the buckets! At this point Raine didn't bother saying anything and threw the brush at him.

However these cheerful antics quickly came to an end when a bright, blinding white light engulfed the classroom, silencing everyone.

"Settle down" Raine ordered, calming the room that had erupted in wonder and panic. "It appears the time for the Oracle has come. I'll go and check on, the chapel. Stay here and study on your own." Though she said it to everyone, it seemed more like it was addressed to Lloyd.

Just as she was about to leave she turned to Luke and Colette "Colette, if it is the Oracle, the priests will come here for you. And Luke, whatever you do, don't let Colette out of your sight."

"Yes ma'am." The Chosen responded, Luke simply nodded, and the Professor left.

The redhead leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, watching with an amused smile as Lloyd tried to sneak out of the classroom, only to be stopped by Genis. The two had a quick discussion which left the silverette mad. The brunette turned to Colette and called out to her for some reason, then they all tried to sneak out of class. Luke couldn't conceal his grin as he snuck over. Trying to be as imposing as possible, he said: "And where do you think you three are going?"

It was very hard to keep a straight face as the three of them jumped in surprise, all whipping around with a look on horror on their faces. Lloyd of course was the first to speak.

"Um, well, Luke.."

At this point Luke couldn't help but laugh. It made the three looked even more shocked. "Hey, I trust you guys to take care of yourselves, but it's my job to take care of Colette, so if she is going, then I have to go. No need to sneak around. It makes it too easy to scare you."

Lloyd perked up and grinned. "Alright! Thanks Luke!"

Colette smiled happily, whilst Genis muttered something about death and Raine.

 **AN:** **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you feel so inclined.**


	3. Chapter 3: Battle For Martel Temple!

**AN:** **Hello, sorry for the lack of updates, especially since these chapters are pre-written, anyway, without further ado, chapter 3!**

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 3:

Iselia was a small country village, therefore, it was usually pretty empty. To be completely devoid of life was something very strange.

"Hey where is everyone?" Lloyd asked looking around confused.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Luke muttered, his hand instinctively hovering above the Key of Lorelei.

A voice called out to the four, breaking the unnerving silence and tension that had settled over them. The voice belonged to Frank, who was running over, he kept on looking left and right.

"Father!" Colette called out in turn, as she hurried over to her father.

"Thank Martel you're safe."Frank said, looking like he wanted too check Colette over, but held back.

"What happened to everyone?" Luke demanded, not caring if he seemed rude.

Having calmed down a little, Colette's father answered. "They are all hiding. The Desians passed through the village a short while ago. No one was hurt, thankfully, but now they are heading to Martel's Temple!"

Genis was the first to reply, seeming appalled. "What! But Iselia had a non-aggression treaty with the Desiasn!"

Luke however, seemed to be the only one to realise that the Desians attacking the Temple meant one thing. Raine was in danger.

"Wait, Raine! Raine's in trouble!" Luke shouted before his brain finally caught up with his mouth.

"What are you-" Genis stared, before he paled as he realised what the redhead meant.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, oblivious to the danger.

"Lloyd, you moron! Raine's at the Temple! The Desians are heading there, we need to help her!" The silverette shouted at his friend.

Colette's eyes widened "Grandmother's also there preparing for the ritual!" she shouted out in worry.

Luke took charge of the three distressed teenagers. "Let's get moving, we can save them." Then turned to Frank "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them."

"I know, I trust you Luke. Bring my little girl and the boys back safely." He replied with a serious look on his face.

The four left the village, only to be stopped by a zombie blocking their path.

"Whoa, its a monster!" Lloyd exclaimed, behind him, Genis was also suprised.

"I thought the northern region where the Temple is located was a sanctuary! Why are there-"

"It must be part of the trial. Martel's trail involves battling monsters." Colette explained

"We don't have time to talk!" Luke snapped drawing his sword, leaping at the monster.

The three nodded to each other and followed the redheads lead, fighting the other enemies that appeared and quickly rushed to the Temple.

Both Colette and Luke knew the way to the Temple, so luckily they were able to get there in record time, avoiding monsters on the road, just in case. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, letting the younger three catch their breath, Luke was used to running everywhere after people, so it was no big deal for him.

From the roof of the Temple a bright light was emanating. Of course, Lloyd, Colette and Genis seemed to forget the seriousness of the situation.

"Whoa, that light is really coming from the Temple!" The dual swordsman said in awe, followed by his best friend saying "The Oracle is here. Colette's going to be the Chosen of Regeneration!" And finally Colette finished the moment by giving her opinion; "Its really, really bright!"

Luke ignored her remark and any comments he could have said, instead tried to get the three's attention "Guys, let's stay focused. If the Desians are here, then we're going to have to fight."

"Right!" they all said in determination

Sounds akin to fighting were coming from somewhere near the front of the entrance of the Temple. A priest then staggered down clutching his chest, from which blood blossomed. Luke unfroze first and rushed to catch the old man before he hit the ground. The other three also jumped to action rushing forward.

Colette was the first one to speak "Pastor!" She cried, unsure of what to do to help.

Lloyd was also unsure of what to do "Hey are you alright?!"

"What happened?" Luke asked, better to know what they were dealing with, and maybe they could save the priest, and were warned about what awaited them at the Temple.

"The Desians..." he wheezed, "broke the… non-aggression treaty, a-and attacked the Temple." He let out a grunt of pain before turning to Colette, "Chosen One, quickly… the oracle."

"I know." the blonde nodded solemnly

A small smile appeared on his face "Please, be, careful."

"Don't worry, we're going to-" Luke began, starting to loose rationality to his emotions.

"No, I am going to die anyway. My only regret is that I… will not be, able to… pro… tect the Cho… sen..." His breath ran out as his life faded.

Genis and Colette hung they're heads low, as did Luke, who was doing his best to keep everything together, it wasn't the first time someone had died in his arms.

Lloyd, sensing something was up, but a hand on Luke's shoulder "It's no good. He's gone."

Once they put the priests body to rest, Colette stared at the Temple, newfound determination gleaming in her eyes, "I'm going." she simply stated, and walked up the stairs. Luke unsheathed the Key of Lorelei and followed.

"Guys wait! There are Desians up there!" Genis called, at his voice, the two stopped and turned, Luke spoke first

"So what? If there are we'll just beat'em down." he was sad for the two boys , they had never seen anything more dangerous than a wolf monster. Luke continued "I don't want anyone to continue to sacrifice themselves for Colette's sake. We're going up to the Oracle. If you don't want to come, go back to town. I'll tell Raine that neither of you left class."

Having finished his speech, the two teens climbed up the stairs. Until Lloyd shouted:

"Hey, wait up! We're going with you!"

The Chosen faced her two friends "Are you sure? It's dangerous." In spite of her warning, she seemed hopeful.

The dual swordsman seemed to regain his confidence "Dwarven vow #1: Let's work together for a peaceful world."

His friend nodded and both followed the Chosen and her guard.

Luke couldn't help but smile at Lloyd's actions. Never abandoning someone in need, always sticking by their friends. Lloyd and Guy had a lot more in common than it seemed.

"I'm worried about Raine, so can we please get moving?" Genis asked worriedly.

The redhead mentally kicked himself for forgetting, though, in full confidence he said "Alright let's go."

Colette looked back between Lloyd and Genis, quietly whispering a than you.

At the top of the stairs, in front of the temples entrance, a tall man with dark spiked brown hair, fat pointed ears and a strange grey armour, robe , thing stood with about four or five soldiers in black and red armour behind him stood tall over Phaidra cornering the old woman.

"Where is the Chosen?" The leader barked.

Phaidra wasn't going to answer, but she couldn't help it, her eyes went wide "Luke! Get Colette away from here!"

Of course all the Desians turned and one obviously stated even though everyone could see "Lord Botta, there she is!"

The aforementioned 'Lord Botta' didn't comment on his minions behaviour, no, he only sneered at Colette "Chosen One, your life is mine!"

His arrogance annoyed Luke, who found himself shouting before he could think, blood beginning to boil in rage "Who the hell do you think you are!?"

The young noble seemed to catch the Desians attention, as if they just noticed he was there, their posture changed, as if they were happy to fight more people.

The redhead continued ranting "What makes you think you'll get away with this?"

Lloyd stood beside Luke, unsheathing his two wooden blades. "Yeah! I won't let any of you Desians get away with this!"

This seemed to make some of the soldiers laugh, and only reaffirmed Luke's grip on his sword with both hands, the tip of the blade glistening in the sunlight.

The taller man laughed "Desians? Well the, prepare to die at the hands of the Desians you hate so much! Let's get them!"

All of the soldiers charged at once.

Lloyd and Luke sprang into action, each going for a whip user whilst Colette and Genis stayed at the rear, taking on foes from a distance. It made Luke's job a little easier since he wouldn't have to watch out for Colette all the time. Familiar feelings of countless battles against Oracle Knights came to the young nobles eye. Though he quickly pushed them aside, these weren't Oracle Knights, and he didn't have his friends to back him up.

He sidestepped each hit of the whips, each time countering, a slash up towards the Desians torso, then a thrust knocking the wind from him, stunning him long enough for the redhead to swerve around the Desian and smack the back of his head with the hilt of his blade. Another one Luke had previously defeated had got up, and was aiming to attack Genis from behind! Luke sent an arte that stunned his foe again, this time regrettably to kill him. Before he could reach the Desian, the young noble found himself dodging a fireball cast his way. Luke's eyes widened slightly as the soldier was burnt to a crisp, no one had a problem with death, was he the only one? Again he had to shake away his thoughts, as Lloyd was having a little trouble. The redhead ran over and slashed the Desian's legs, sending him backwards enough for the younger swordsman to thrust his wooden swords at the Desians neck. Finishing the last Desian with a sickening crack.

"You picked the wrong people to mess with." Lloyd taunted. Luke on the other hand could only feel regret, staring at the corpses, he quietly muttered to himself "I'll do whatever it takes."

Unfortunately, the fight was not over, as another Desian came, this one bigger than the rest, carrying a spikedball and chain in one hand, a large hammer in the other and a large sword on his back. Staring down Luke and company he shouted: "Do not get in our way!"

Having been taken by surprise at the new arrival, this left the giant the opportunity to attack first. Partly thanks to good reflexes, both swordsmen jumped back. Mostly dodging and sending artes when available whilst Genis and Colette, who each had ranged weapons, attacked his exposed midriff when the opportunity presented itself, which seemed to be a good plan until you remember the ball and chain.

"Enough of this!" Die!" The big Desian launched his spiked ball where Colette and Genis were. Lloyd pushed the Chosen out of the way just in time, the attack missing them both by an inch or two.

Somehow this gave Lloyd an idea. After proclaiming so he ran to the Desian and thrust his swords at the exposed area with a cry. And somehow by some miracle, the young swordsman's wooden swords pierced through flesh, causing the Desian to cry out in surprise. Satisfied, Lloyd ran back to Luke.

"Damn I must be a genius!" he boasted thinking the battle was finally over. It wasn't. Luke saw it first, but could do nothing when the brutes weapon smacked Lloyd sending him sprawling across the battlefield.

"Lloyd!" Both Colette and Genis shouted running over to their friend.

Luke jumped forward "Alright, just you and me buddy." he growled, more than ready to take the Desian on his own. Couldn't be harder than Van right? He was ready to dodge and lunge, when an attack appeared out of nowhere knocking the big Desian right off his feet.

Everyone turned to the stairway where the attack came from to see a strange man with long auburn hair, dressed from head to toe in various shades of purple; purple body armour, gloves, cape, belts, pants and boots. He also carried a sword with a yellow hilt and a round shield.

The new fighter just casually walked up, not saying a word, only glancing at Luke when the big desian got up "You seem to be the best fighter here." He said nonchalantly "If you're going to help do it now. Otherwise get out of the way."

Luke was ever so slightly flustered. The only comeback he could come up with was asking the man his name. And the redhead could have sworn he smirked.

"I'll answer that later. For now, let's focus on this one." the strange man replied cooly, before stabbing the Desian in his exposed midriff. The brute was once again forced back, the stranger slashed again, cutting the enemies side open and appearing on his side. Luke took his chance and attacked, sending the big desian into a wall. Guilt creeping over the taste of victory.

The head of this operation, Lord Botta was shocked, and seemed slightly scared. "I didn't expect you to show up!" he turned to his remaining troops, "Everyone! Retreat for now!"

With that final order, the fight was over and the battle was won.

Colette was the first one to speak with only one simple word: "Amazing!"

"This guys tough!" Genis concurred

"Ye-yeah, Luke tougher if you ask me." Lloyd muttered. His comment made Luke smile, even though part of him was saying he didn't deserve the praise, it was nice to know that someone actually looked up to him.

"Is everyone alright?" the stranger asked. When he asked however something on his hand blinked

Lloyd was more intrigued with whatever blinked than answering the man's question. "Is, is that an exsphere?"

What an exsphere was, Luke would ask Lorelei later.

Phaidra stepped up, stopping that discussion from going further, thankfully, she was unhurt. "Thank you for helping protect the Chosen."

"Ah, so one of these children is the Chosen of Regeneration?" the stranger asked eyeing Lloyd, Colette and Genis in turn.

"Yes sir." Colette stepped forward and bowed, "I'm Colette Brunel, the Chosen of Regeneration." Having introduced herself, the blonde seemed to remember something "Oh, that's right! I need to go and receive the Oracle! Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trail now."

Lloyd seemed very confused "Trial?"

"Monsters, I assume. Cruxis and Martel are probably testing Colette to see is she is fit to save the world. The purple knight explained.

"Yes, that is correct. The Chosen must receive judgement from heaven before accepting the Oracle." Phaidra said, then her face took on a pained look, "But most of the priests that are to accompany her were slaughtered by the Desians, and all the ones that weren't killed were all badly wounded." The old woman turned to Luke "Could you accompany Colette and make sure she receives the Oracle."

Luke smiled and nodded "Yeah, sure, no problem."

The knight didn't seem happy with this decision. "You're going to leave the fate of the Chosen in the hands of an eighteen year old boy?" he questioned in stoic confusion.

"I'm sorry but-" Phaidra started, before Luke cut her off.

"Hey, if this Oracle event is that important, wouldn't extra protection help? I'm fine with it, but… are you fine with it Colette."

Colette was the Chosen. It was her journey, she should decide. And thank Lorelei the stranger didn't know Luke's real age.

"Sure, it's no problem." the Chosen replied, though she seemed uneasy.

As if sensing her unease, Lloyd perked up, "Hey Phaidra, can I come too? I'm feeling fine after that battle, so I won't slow you guys down." He has so much hope in his eyes.

"Lloyd, I'm not sure. I'm still uneasy after seeing you take that hit." She tried, the older woman however was defeated by the hope in his eyes. His Martel-be-damned puppy dog eyes, "At the very least talk to Raine inside before you fight anything."

Her words seemed to cheer both younger boys up. Genis knew Raine was safe, and Lloyd could go with them.

The stranger however was staring at Lloyd, "Your name is Lloyd?" he asked suddenly

Lloyd in his ever smooth ways replied with: "Yeah, but who are you to ask my name?"

Everyone internally sighed.

After a pause, he spoke. "I am Kratos, a mercenary. If it is fine with you, and I get paid, I'll accept the task of guarding the Chosen with, Luke, was it?"

Luke nodded.

"I guess Luke has a point about extra security. Please be of service. We will discuss your payment after Colette receives the Oracle." Phaidra said in a beaten voice. She looked suddenly very tired and worn out.

"It's a deal then." Kratos said turning around to go in when Lloyd walked up to him.

"Wait, so am I going too?"

This seemed to irritate the older man, "No Lloyd. You'll only get in the way. Get your back looked at and stay here." He commanded.

This seemed to affect Lloyd "What did you say?"

"Did I not make myself clear?" Kratos threatened "You'll just be a burden. Go home."

Lloyd was about to retort, when Colette walked up to Kratos. "Um, Mr. Kratos? Could you please let Lloyd come with us?"

"But..." Kratos tried, wanting to convince the Chosen otherwise. Colette however was determined.

"Please, I'll feel more comfortable with him around. Please?"

The mercenary sighed "Fine. Do as you wish. Luke are you ready?"

The redhead nodded and the group started walking towards the temple. Behind, Lloyd cheered, all previous emotions having been replaced by enthusiasm. "C'mon Genis!"

Genis didn't seem to agree. "What!? I'm going too?" the younger boy asked in suprise.

"Of course!" Lloyd replied with a smile.

In spite of his grumbling, Genis still followed.

And of course in what seemed to be Kratos fashion, he sighed before calling out to the younger boys "Remember, this isn't a field trip!"

* * *

 **AN:** **Thanks for reading! And I have a question, if you noticed in one of the previous chapters, it was finished with skits, now, I'm not going to do all the skits in the game, there are so many videos of them if you want to know. No, I want you to propose to me any ideas you have for skits, of course, they shall pertain to Luke. If you have any ideas, pm me, leave it in a review, whatever. Anyway, that's it, toodles!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Chosen's Journey

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 4:

Raine paused as she heard footsteps. None of the priests were allowed to move, and Phaidra had left to make a compromise with the Desians attacking. She quickly chanted one last first aid as she crept towards the door. There were multiple sets of footsteps, meaning there was more than one person, and no cane meant that Phaidra wasn't amongst them. The eleven teacher held her staff up high, waiting to at least get one good hit in, when…

"I hope Raine is okay."

"Don't worry, we beat those Desians so she should be!"

The woman couldn't help but smile, she recognised those two voices anywhere but... Wait a minute, shouldn't have those two been in class?

"Genis! Lloyd! What are you two doing out of class?"

The two boys suddenly stopped talking, and as the group came into view, Genis and Lloyd were very pale, and seemed rather scared.

Luke watched the two go from happy to terrified within a few seconds, that's when he took his cue to step in : "Sorry Raine. Lloyd, Genis and Colette were all trying to sneak out of class. Since you told me never to let Colette out of sight I had to go with them." he explained, it was vague but seemed to do the trick in calming Lloyd and Genis. Just what did the professor do to them?

"Well at least you made sure they were okay Luke." Raine said, trying her hardest to not show the small smile creeping its way onto her face. She decided she was happier knowing they were safe than she was angry. The professor then turned to Kratos, who had been standing silently to the side "And you are?"

"Kratos, a mercenary. The Chosen's grandmother hired me." The mercenary replied as stoic as ever.

"Well then, I guess that is three of us protecting Colette. I'm going with her as a healer." The elf remarked. There was a moment of silence as she checked over the last priest, before her face lit up. Genis groaned.

"Since Colette is going to receive the Oracle, would it be too much for me to join you?"

Luke could have sworn he saw stars in her eyes, kind of like Anise with older rich men, or Guy with fontech. Raine was obsessed with something.

Kratos shrugged, he didn't really care either way, a healer would be useful, but the task wouldn't be too hard. Taking his shrug for a yes, Raine rushed forward with barely contained excitement.

Everyone was confused, except for Genis, he just sighed again.

The group continued through the temple, hoping to find some way to the Oracle. Though Colette had trained all of her life for this, without the priests she was unsure of where to go. "Well, um, I'm sorry. The temple seems… different than usual. I don't know where to go."

"I guess that means we'll just have to walk around the place and find out." Luke shrugged. It wasn't as if he was used to doing that.

Kratos however was taking the situation far more seriously "There are monsters around. Stay on your guard."

"Heh," Lloyd grinned "no worries. We can handle a few easy monsters."

His words made the eldest swordsman pause, the boy had no stance, and though he seemed sure-footed, his technique left much to be desired. "Wait. Lloyd," he hesitated before continuing, something that Raine and Luke seemed to notice, "you are self-taught in swordplay correct?" The question seemed innocent enough, but it was Kratos asking so there had to be something behind this.

"Yeah why?" Lloyd was immediately on the defensive

The mercenary said nothing, instead choosing to throw the dual wielder a book. Raine internally laughed. She knew Lloyd would never read it.

"What's this thing?"

"If you want to become a better swordsman, then at least learn the basics." Kratos' tone was harsh, leaving no room for argument as he walked forward to deal with the monsters that had approached even closer.

Of course, the words left the youngest swordsman angry "Hmph! He thinks he knows everything does he?"

Nobody chose to comment of Lloyd's poor choice of words when it came to talking about an older more experience. He would learn in time, or at least they hoped.

With the tension Kratos and Lloyd had created for the group, they continued through the temple. It was during which multiple things were discovered, a Sorcerers Ring that Lloyd had way too much fun with for anyone to want to let him keep it, especially when he burned his shoes. And that the Professor had a rather unhealthy obsession with anything old, and/or in ruins. And that block puzzles were long, stupid and hopefully not a trend.

In all actuality, the temple hadn't taken that long to get through, but to Luke, it felt like forever. And he was openly relieved when they reached what he assumed to be a teleporter. They were so cool, Guy would be having the time of his life trying to figure out how it worked. Lorelei tried to explain, but it involved too many complicated words that only Jade would understand. At first however, it was rather terrifying to watch Raine just walk through and disappear. It had taken the joint efforts of Luke and suprisinly Kratos, in all his stoic ways to convince Genis that Raine was alright, and they quickly followed suit to the teleporter.

"This appears to be the top floor" Kratos observed.

Colette nodded "Yes. This is the altar. The Oracle should be here."

Having explained, the young Chosen walked forward towards the first step of her destiny. The altar was glowing orange, like a flame; with a small shining orange orb in the middle.

Lloyd naturally took a sudden interest in the orb, like a magpie really. "So that must be the Cruxis Crystal." He observed

"That's right." Colette replied, with Raine giving a satisfied nod behind her. "According to my Grandmother, I was born holding it in my hand. That's what signified I was the Chosen."

Great, Luke thought, more things to ask Lorelei later. He was a little disgruntled, who would have thought another world would be so complicated?

Lorelei grumbled as well, but for different reasons. Luke was a little too oblivious at times.

"Woah! Look at that light!" Genis said in awe, his sister agreeing next to him.

The others said nothing as a bright light came down from the blue domed ceiling. A yellow ball of light floated down and with a bright flash transformed into an angel! The angel wore a green robe of all shades, white boots with a greenish tint, and a green hat with gold linings was atop his golden hair. He wouldn't have been that out of place in Daath, except for the white pair of feathery wings.

"What, what is that?!" Lloyd exclaimed in shock.

Luke was stunned into silence.

They all stood, staring at the angel, each with varying emotions, most shock and awe, then there was Kratos. Even an angel didn't faze him. The angel just floated, a calm, almost eerily so , smile on his face as he waited for the Chosen.

"So, this is Colette's real father." Raine stated being the first to break the silence. Nobody seemed surprised by this fact except for Luke.

"Real… father?" He repeated, trying to understand. Again nobody said anything, all watching Colette walk up to the angel.

"I am Remiel, an angel of Cruxis." The angel finally spoke "I have been sent to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the Seventh Chosen."

He floated down to the altar as the aforementioned Cruxis Crystal floated towards him. "The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel from her slumber at the centre of the earth, so she shall purify the land of Sylvarant."

"Awaken the Goddess Martel. This is just like the legend, huh Raine?" Genis whispered to his sister.

"Indeed." Raine smiled as she held him close.

The Cruxis Crystal then descended gently towards Colette, who held out her palms in order to catch it. But the young Chosen didn't have to, since it continued floating, until in another flash of light, it reappeared around her neck, attached firmly in place.

"From this day onwards, Colette is the Chosen of Regeneration." The angel continued the ceremony "Cruxis has now blessed this event, and shall now bestow upon the world the Tower Of Salvation."

As soon as he finished speaking, the earth trembled, shaking the temple fiercly.

Raine's good mood vanished as part of the temple seemed to not withstand the shaking, the younger companions tried to stay upright, and Kratos stayed, well… Kratos.

However as quickly as the trembling began, it had finished, and the temple was once again silent as everyone processed the situation, until Lloyd noticed the Tower of Salvation, having the five of them, minus Kratos, scramble to the nearby window. Outside, a huge tower stood tall, extending to the heavens, towering over the land.

"Colette." Remiel called out, making the group move away from the window. "Unlock the seals that protect the Tower of Salvation and the climb its stairs to heaven. Then the world shall be saved."

And Luke could return home.

"I humbly accept this task that has been asked of me." The Chosen said with a bow.

"Very well. We of Cruxis shall lend you our strength little by little as you unlock the seals of the world. Once you have been fully reformed as an angel, and have climbed to the peak of the Tower of Salvation, this corrupted world shall once again be regenerated."

"I swear upon my life that I will regenerate this world." Colette said with determination.

"Good. First you shall head south, to the Seal of Fire. Offer your prayers at the altar and you shall be granted the gifts of Cruxis."

"Of course, Lord Remiel." The Chosen said solemnly.

Having accomplished his mission, the angel started to ascend back to heaven, when Colette suddenly called him back "Oh! Please wait!"

The angel didn't and continued to rise.

"I have a question to ask of you." Colette seemed to hesitate "Are you… my real father?" She asked anyway full of hope.

"First, you will head to the Seal of Fire. Understood? I will see you again." Remiel said with another creepy smile "My beloved daughter Colette."

Colette seemed taken aback by the answer "W-wait! Father..." she trailed off. But Remiel continued to ascend his final words being: "Do not worry, Colette. I shall see you again at the Seal of Fire."

That was it. The angel was gone. But Luke, was still staring at the space Remiel once was. In the end Lloyd had to snap his fingers infront of the redheads face "Hey Luke, are you okay?"

Blushing slightly, Luke fumbled his words "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just … wow. Seeing an angel is a once in a lifetime experience. I'm amazed I was able to see one."

Lloyd agreed before going to join Colette and Genis.

There was an excited buzz in the air, the feeling of something great commencing, that was subsequently killed by Kratos "The Chosen has received the Oracle. We're done here."

"Oh, right." Colette trailed off, looking down.

Kratos just walked towards the teleporter. "I'll go on ahead. Luke, you stay with the Chosen." The mercenary ordered before vanishing.

Luke shrugged, Kratos would be Kratos. The redhead turned to Colette, "Do you want to go? Or do you want to stay here bit more? I know Raine looks like she does."

The earned a small giggle from the young Chosen "It's okay. Let's go home." She turned to Lloyd and Genis, who had been actively avoiding getting in Raine's way, "Thank you, both of you. Can you guys meet me at my house later?"

"Yeah." Lloyd replied with a smile

"No problem." Genis agreed

With Colette smiling again, and the three boys ready, the group decided they could leave. Then they remembered Raine again, somehow they had blocked out her mumbling.

Luke looked towards Genis and Lloyd, questioning what to do, both boys shook their heads vigorously. They weren't going to ruin her fun. And the replica wasn't mean enough to ask Colette even though she would probably come out fine. Why was he even scared of Raine? He only knew her for a week! He had faced worse things before, one of those happened to be Jade! He grabbed every shred of courage he could find, ignored Lorelei's laughing and went up to Raine.

"Are you coming with us?"

The professor suddenly looked up. "I apologise, but I will stay here a little longer. I need to check how the priests are doing."

"You just want to study the temple more." Genis mumbled. Which in hindsight was a very bad idea, but Genis was 12. And though he was very smart in some aspects, in others he was very, very dumb.

Raine glared at him "Genis! Human life to me is more important to me than some ruins. That is not only an insult to me, it is an insult to the priests wounded or killed by the Desians. Don't let me ever hear you say something like that again!" The older elf scolded him harshly, the anger left her eyes when she turned to the other three who were expect a lecture themselves. "Don't worry about me. I should be back before nightfall."

Lloyd, Colette and Luke nodded, dragging Genis with them to the teleporter.

Getting back to the village was simple, monsters seemed to be non-existent. Lloyd, Colette and Genis were all talking, whilst Luke was deep in thought;

 **Luke, I'm beginning to have some doubts about Cruxis.**

'What do you mean? You were the one who suggested that we ask Cruxis if they could help us return to our world.'

 **I'm not sure. For one thing, there aren't any records of what happens exactly happens when the Chosen becomes an angel. Not only that but Remiel gave off an odd vibe, as if he had secondary motives.**

'Then what else am I supposed to do? I promised Colette I would help her. I can't give up now!'

 **I never said anything about giving up. What I am saying is to be a little cautious, especially when it comes to Cruxis.**

Our quartet of heroes made it back to Iselia without any real problems. Monsters were nothing when compared to Desians for Lloyd. If he could beat them he could beat anything! He was about to turn to Colette and say how cool it was that they were going to travel together, and go on a grand adventure for maybe close to the 1000th time, when he noticed her talking to Luke, about telling everyone about the successful Oracle. This annoyed Lloyd. Why did Colette turn directly to Luke? It wasn't as if he wasn't a part of the Journey too. The swordsman then noticed Luke agreeing with Colette, deciding he had had enough, he decided to butt in.

"Hey! Can't we come too!"

Next to him, Genis sighed "Lloyd, we'd probably get shooed out anyway. Why should we even bother?"

But the dual-swordsman was not giving up and continued to pester the redhead till he finally gave up. "Fine alright, you two can come." He sighed, Lloyd's face brightened up instantly, while Genis shook his head.

"On one condition," Luke continued and Lloyd's face instantly fell "Give us the Sorcerer's Ring before we forget, wouldn't want you to burn your shoes again."

"That was an accident!" he protested, before handing the ring over, "Fine, here you go Colette."

Though as he might, he couldn't really hide his excitement. His good mood was ruined once again, because Kratos was there. As well as Phaidra, Frank and the mayor.

The older woman smiled sweetly as the group walked in "You're all back! Please come sit down."

After all that running and fighting, sitting down did seem like heaven.

"Did any of you have trouble getting back to the village?" Kratos questioned the four.

Luke smiled, "Nothing we couldn't handle!"

Content with the answer, the mercenary nodded. He had filled his daily quota of social interaction for the day apparently.

Lloyd wasn't interested in the small talk however, "Hey, were you guys talking about the Journey of Regeneration just now?"

"Yes." Phaidra nodded, making Lloyds excitement grow even more.

"Awesome! I wanna go too! I wanna see Colette regenerate the world!"

Genis got caught up in his friends enthusiasm "If Raine's going, then I'm going too."

"No." And once more Kratos ruined the mood for Lloyd "Like I said back at the chapel, you two would just be a burden."

And once more, Lloyd got defensive. So Luke decided to jump in. Since when was he so good at paying mediator he didn't know. "I'm going to put this as nicely as I can, Lloyd, Genis. As much as we'd love to have the two of you come, you are both too inexperienced." He gently tried to explain.

Then Kratos spoke again. "The battles at the Chapel were child's play compared to what the rest of the world has in store. Unless you would like to brutally die at the hands of a wild monster, stay at home." His words cut no corners as he cut away at the two boys pride.

Then the mayor stepped in "Sir Kratos and Luke are completely right. Now then, we need to discuss business here. Why don't you two go home." It wasn't an order, Luke felt sorry for the two boys but said nothing. It wasn't his place to.

Neither Genis nor Lloyd said anything as they left, as they left the only person they truly cared about. It worried Colette. Saying a quick apology she ran after her two best friends.

She wasn't gone long however, and very soon returned to her sear. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to..."

"We understand Colette." Her father reassured her.

The mayor didn't seem to care for her feelings as he continued on. "Now, onto business" he announced "Do you know when you'll be leaving Chosen?"

Luke was starting to loathe the word Chosen. Up until that point people called her Colette, now it was Chosen this, Chosen that. Reminded him of Asch saying replica. Colette was Colette not an object, she was a living being. He was determined to never call her Chosen.

Said Chosen looked down and closed her eyes, building the courage to say what she wanted to do. It was quiet and slow, but she said; "I want to leave early tomorrow."

"Wait what!?" Luke hadn't expected that.

"I don't want Lloyd and Genis to worry about me when we leave. I want to leave when they aren't in the village, or awake." Colette explained, a little sad. "Is that alright Luke?"

"Well, I think I understand." Luke lied, it was absurd to him why she wouldn't want her only two friends to see her off to save the world. "I just wasn't expecting to leave as early as tomorrow, sorry for bursting out."

"Tomorrow isn't that far away. Do you have the supplies needed for the journey prepared? And does Professor Sage know about this?" Kratos asked straight to the point.

"We do have all the necessary items ready, Sir Kratos." Frank answered "And as for Raine, she has always been able to adapt to sudden changes such as this. She should be able to pack up easily."

"If what you say is true, then I have no objections about leaving tomorrow."

"Good. I think that'll do for now; we have seemed to have made all the necessary arrangements. We'll see you off tomorrow morning Chosen." The Mayor added, seeming very pleased with himself even though he did absolutely nothing.

His words seemed to be the conclusion of the meeting as the Mayor stood up to leave. Kratos quickly followed suit. Luke planned on doing doing the same when Colette's father called out to him: "Luke, can I talk to you for a second?"

The redhead was surprised as he stopped "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Since Colette is leaving tomorrow, could you sleep at the inn tonight? It would be easier to leave without waking Lloyd." Frank explained.

It made sense. It would be rather stupid if he incidently woke Lloyd up, who then ran to get Genis, who would most probably want to come along... Oh, that's why Colette didn't want the two to come. "Yeah, I can do that. Just let me get my stuff and eat dinner at Dirks first. They are expecting me."

Frank did disagree, so Luke finally left Colette's house and headed straight to the dwarfs house. Our young replica didn't expect to meet anyone on the way, especially a familiar brunet in red clothing.

"Hey Lloyd!" Luke called out, and again the unexpected happened as the young swordsman jumped at his voice and drew his swords prepared to strike, quickly calming down when he saw it was just Luke.

"Wow you're slow! I thought you'd be at Dirk's house by now." The redhead teased.

Lloyd grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, well, Genis and I got, uh, … caught up in something's... Yeah!..." he quickly trailed off.

It was like that time when Guy broke a vase that his mother had loved. Getting the story out was hard.

"Alright, what did you two do?" Luke asked folding his arms and standing straighter, embracing his inner noble.

"Okay fine!" Lloyd snapped "We went to visit a friend of Genis'"

It couldn't be the whole truth, otherwise he would have come out with it. Unless it was something really important, like Genis going to see a crush with Lloyd as his wingman. No that couldn't be it, Lloyd would be a terrible wingman. Luke decided to let it slide, it wasn't really any of his business. "See? Was that so hard?" Luke teased again

"No. Can we go back now?" Lloyd grumbled, pushing past the redhead without waiting for an answer.

The two boys got to Dirk's house very quickly afterwards, as soon as they got inside, Lloyd rushed over to his father, asking him to make a "Keycrest" for someone who he would not name.

"You said that an exsphere without a keycrest is bad for you, right? Or is it too late for her now?" Lloyd explained, Luke still understanding nothing.

"What is an exsphere?" he asked innocently

Both father and son looked away from each other remembering they had a guest, Dirk knew Lloyd was terrible with explanations, so he spoke instead.

"Allow me to explain Luke, if ya don't mind? Exsphere's are a sorta power amplifier that can enhance the usa's fighting capabilities to their maximum potential. Dey are also very dangerous. An exsphere is also a parasite that can drain the usa's life without proper protection. A keycrest is one of these protections, and the most common as the design makes it so the parasite doesn't reach the usa."

"So couldn't someone just remove the exsphere without a keycrest before the parasite takes control?" It seemed simple to Luke, that meant that it probably wasn't.

"Ya can't. Even removing an exsphere is dangerous." Dirk said, as he noticed his guests eyes widen, it seemed like he understood.

An exsphere did sound useful, but it sounded too much like a double-edged sword for Luke to want to use one. He was already supposed to died three times. Best not add a fourth reason to the list. Lorelei seemed to agree. But one question nagged at Luke, "Lloyd, how did your friend get an exsphere?"

The room was silent. Lloyd looked like a giant stampede of angry rappigs was running towards him, and Dirk was said angry stampede, scowling hard enough to give Luke spine's a chill, even if he wasn't the centre of attention.

"W-well, you see..." Lloyd started, but didn't finish. Dirk was very angry.

"You went to the Human Ranch didn't you?" the dwarfs voice was low, a rumble announcing the storm to come. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, me and Genis went to see a prisoner there who he became friends with." Lloyd admitted.

Dirk didn't say anything , he slowly got up and walked over to Lloyd and punched his son in the gut! "LLOYD! How many times 'ave I told ya to stay away from the Ranch!?"

Luke had to look away, wincing when his friend hit the ground.

"I-I know Dad, but... this person needs a keycrest!" the brunet groaned as he got up.

"Did ya let them see ya keycrest?" The dwarf asked, his voice tinged with worry, hoping that they hadn't, and Lloyd had at least learned to hide it.

"No, I made sure about that. But why is it so important to hide that thing?" Lloyd said, and Dirk was relieved. His son wasn't a complete idiot after all.

"You have an exsphere?" Luke blurted out, the other two once again remembered the redhead was there.

Lloyd looked at his father. "I trust Luke Lloyd. You can show 'im." Dirk confirmed. The dual-swordsman held out his left hand, which was wrapped in a white bandage. Lloyd ripped the bandage of with a dramatic flourish revealing a blue gem in a golden crest.

'Lorelei, is, is that an exsphere?"

 **Yes. I believe Kratos also had one on him as well.**

'Huh? He did? I didn't notice.'

Lukes fascination caused Lloyd to smile "Yeah, that's my exsphere. I've had it for as long as I can remember. So why's it so important Dad?"

Dirked sighed at his son's question "Well, ye see, Lloyd, yer exsphere is special."

Lloyd was surprised "Special? It's different than the one the Desian's use?"

The dwarfs face fell, he seemed sad as he spoke, "That exsphere is your mothers keepsake."

Luke suddenly felt extremely out of place. He wanted to leave, but didn't want to talk, for fear of interrupting this personal moment.

"The Desians killed yer mother fer that exsphere Lloyd." Dirk continued, with pauses to let hisson digest the information, "Remember how I found ye at the cliff near the ranch?"

"Y-yeah." The young swordsman's voice was wavering.

"Yeh mother was still conscious when I got there and she explained it all. There is no doubt about it."

Lloyd stared at Dirk in disbelief, the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. Then he shouted: "Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

Dirk didn't even flinch, arguing back "If I 'ad, you would 'ave just gone out an' tried to take revenge on those Desians!" Though he calmed down as he continued, "A-and I didn't want to lose yeh Lloyd. Even though we ain't related by blood, you're still my son, and I ye parent."

The room became quiet again, as Dirk stared at the floor, as if unused to showing so many emotions, "Anywho, the Tower Of Salvation has jus' appeared today. Leave the rest up to Colette. It'll take care of the Desians as well."

"But still..." Lloyd tried, before his father cut him off again.

"Don't get involved with the Desians. Yer mother died tryin' to protect you and yer exsphere from 'em! Don't jus' go 'an throw yer life away along with yer exsphere! After what she did."

"... So you'll make the keycrest?"

This make Dirk snap for the second time that evening, "Didn't yah listen to anythin' I just said Lloyd?!"

And so, yet again, Lloyd got angry "Yeah! I heard you! But you can't expect me to sit down and twiddle my thumbs now that I know!"

Both side had somewhat compelling arguments, but Dirk had one thing Lloyd could never hope to match; his fist.

Luke couldn't help but notice that people liked to hit Lloyd. Lorelei thought that was why the boy was so dull in mind.

The brunet hit the floor, the punch having knocked all the air out of him so he couldn't argue back. Especially when there was a knock on the door. The redhead helped the poor boy off the floor as the dwarf answered the door.

"Ah, no worries! Come on in and make yourselves at home!" the gruff man said as if he hadn't had an argument with his son and punched him twice.

Standing in the doorway were Kratos, Colette Raine, and Genis, much to the two boys surprise. Once everyone was sitting down, Lloyd feeling rather self-conscious spoke up "So, uh, did you guys hear, all that when you were in the yard?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yes, most of it." Raine answered plainly. Luke could have sworn she was staring at him again.

Genis was staring into his lap, an apologetic look on his face "Lloyd, I'm sorry. It's all my fault..."

"It's okay I don't blame you." The youngest swordsman interrupted

After a small awkward silence, Raine spoke up "Lloyd, you should speak with Colette. Privately. We'll wait for you when you're done." She 'suggested'

At this Colette seemed a little nervous "Lloyd , I'll talk to you on the terrace, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Can you wait a minute though?" He was a little nervous as well it seemed.

Her smile fell a little "Of course. I'll wait at the bench."

"While they're up there an' talkin', feel free to wander around a bit." Dirk told everyone. And so, Kratos, Genis, and Raine went outside, followed by Lloyd. Luke on the other hand snuck up, well, he didn't have to sneaky about it, but he did anyway, to Lloyd's room to pack up his stuff. Which actually wasn't a lot.

Outside Colette was still sitting alone on the bench staring up at the night sky waiting for Lloyd. She was so deep in thought she hadn't even noticed the redhead approach.

A grin on his face, his leaned down and whispered " Hey Colette."

The young Chosen whipped around in surprise, before calming down seeing Luke. "Oh, hello Luke." she said, as she turned back to watching the stars.

"So big day tomorrow huh?" the young noble said, trying to start a conversation as he sat down next to Colette

"Yes, all of my training will finally be put to use. I can save Sylvarant!" she said happily. Seeing her happy made Luke smile.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them, Colette continued to stare at the stars whilst Luke stared at the people down below. Raine and Genis were in the middle of a discussion he couldn't hear. To their left, Kratos and Lloyd were looking over a gravestone. It probably belonged to Lloyd's mother. Wanting to forget the argument he heard earlier, Luke turned back to the stars as well. They were bright and twinkled in the night. He had heard stories of other worlds in the night sky, maybe he could see Aulderant. He stared intently, until Colette brought him back down to Sylvarant.

"Excuse me Luke?" she asked, her voice soft and quiet, "If it's not too much of a bother, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead. Shoot."

At his words, the young Chosen frowned. "Shoot? But I don't have a bow..."

"Never mind." He quickly waved off. Her and Lloyd were a pair. "What did you want to ask?"

"I haven't really had time to ask, but how much do you know about Martel?" Colette asked innocently, yet it still caught Luke off guard.

"Well, not much in all honesty. I know the basics, but I never really had the time to go to Church, both now and when I was a kid. I don't know much about the Journey of Regeneration, but I'm sure it'll be a nice learning experience, if anything else. Don't worry Colette; I'll help you through to the end!" He answered truthfully.

Colette's expression changed to one Luke couldn't read briefly, before she smiled and thanked the older boy. Though, something in her words sounded faked and forced. He couldn't question it however, because footsteps could be heard behind them. Both turned around to see Lloyd standing there with a grin.

Luke left the two knowing Colette wanted to have one last moment with her best friend before she had to leave. Whilst he was downstairs, Luke told Dirk of his plans. The dwarf reassured the young noble that he would help. He knew Lloyd would most probably be in Dirk's workshop making a present for Colette. Luke thanked him, but Dirk brushed it off with Dwarven Vows and the like. The redhead exited he building and walked towards Raine and Kratos who were standing in front of the grave.

"Are you prepared for tomorrow Luke?" Raine asked. Kratos said nothing. As usual.

"Yeah. I didn't have a lot on me when I came to Iselia, so I didn't have a lot to pack." Luke explained.

"Good, we'll leave at 9 tomorrow morning from the southern gate. From then on, we'll travel south-west towards the Triet Desert, into Triet, the town closest to the Seal of Fire. Did you get all that?" Raine lectured Luke. If before he had any doubts she was a teacher, they were gone now. It was like listening to one of his tutors. If he could be bothered to listen.

"Yeah, I got it." Luke waved off.

Nobody said anything, so Luke let his eyes wander on the grave. He had been there for a week and never took the time to actually look.

 **HERE LIES ANNA. MAY SHE REST IN PIECE**

"Who is this for?" he asked, though he already had an idea.

Raine looked away, while Kratos seemed to grimace. "It's the grave of Lloyd's mother. I assume Dirk told you everything."

"Yes, he told me. Though not directly." Luke explained, before paying his respects. "I need to stay here until Lloyd is asleep or working on Colette's present.

Raine sighed as she put a hand to her forehead, "Of course he would forget her present. I knew I should have reminded him earlier." In spite of herself, she was smiling. "Colette, Genis! It's getting late! We need to get back to the village!"

Colette stopped talking to Lloyd on the balcony with a start. "Okay, I'm coming!" She called back before going inside and reappearing with Genis.

Everyone said their goodbyes, the journey ahead drawing ever closer. As was the plan, once he heard Lloyd working away, with Dirk reassuring that he would be working all night and promptly fall asleep in the workshop, Luke crept away. With one final goodbye he left the woodland house as he made his way to Iselia. One step closer to getting home.


	5. Chapter 5: Something Has To Go Wrong

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 5:

In Luke's own personal opinion, Lorelei made a much better alarm than Jade ever could. At least Lorelei didn't give him nightmares...? Daymares? Whatever, that didn't matter, he had to get going. Very quickly, the redhead joined his three companions outside.

"Good morning Luke!" Colette greeted happily, she was standing in between Raine and Kratos who both said nothing. "Did you sleep well?" She continued still rather cheery.

"Yeah no worries." he quickly answered, feeling both Kratos and Raine staring at him, "Now everyone's here should we get going?"

"The whole village is waiting at the gate to send us off. It won't take long, but we should leave now in order to remain on schedule." Raine explained. The ever eternal teacher that she was. Luke didn't think that the liked schedules that much.

"Are you prepared?" The mercenary asked, staring the redhead down.

Luke stared back as he replied "Of course."

Kratos said nothing more as he made his way towards the southern gate. The other three following behind. Colette was a little confused as she looked between Kratos and Luke. Didn't they like each other? If they were going to be travelling together they would have to get along. The Chosen made herself a small promise, Kratos and Luke would be friends by the end of this journey!

The entire village minus Dirk Lloyd and Genis were waiting for the party to see off the Chosen. In all truth the entire village wasn't actually that many people, and what with the wounded priests from the temple still recovering... Actually it wasn't the entire village. In normal fashion the Mayor stood at the head of the parade, blocking off the exit so he could say his speech.

'Oh for Lorelei's sake is this necessary' Luke thought as he listened. The Mayor rambled on:

"Chosen. We, the people of Iselia wish you a safe passage while of The Journey Of Regeneration. All of our prayers go to you and your guardians, wishing for you to succed in regenerating the world."

 **Why for my sake?**

'It's just and expression. Didn't you know people prayed to you? Even made "The Order Of Lorelei" and everything.'

 **Really? People prayed to me? Why?**

'I don't know, wait, I have to walk.'

The Chosen of Regeneration and her chosen guardians walked up to the gate now that the Mayor was out of the way. Colette turned towards the villagers to address them one final goodbye.

"People of Iselia, thank you. You have all helped me prepare for this journey that I must partake in, showing me kindness all throughout my life, and now I must repay you. And I shall repay not only everyone in this village, but all of the people in the world of Sylvarant by regenerating the world." She finished her speech with a bow. The crowd bowed back in respect, and that was it. No other words exchanged, no cries of joy, gifts, wishes, no anything. Nothing.

The crowd watched the four leave with bated breath. Hopefully this Chosen would succeed.

* * *

"According to the map, we need to follow this pathway to reach the Triet Desert." The Professor explained yet again, just like that morning, and the night before. Even Colette and her infinite patience was being tried. Though she didn't actually mind that much, she knew that the Professor just loved explaining things.

To the side, Kratos made a grunting noise showing he had heard, and continued to scan the horizon. Luke said something about it being easy. It was a surprise to the young Chosen just how relaxed Luke was about this whole journey. Then again he had mentioned he had been travelling before for a year already. Maybe he had already been to Triet. He must have to think it was easy.

The more Colette thought, the more she realised how little she actually knew about Luke, and by extension Kratos. Even Kratos' emotions were mysterious.

"We should travel in a formation, to cover blind spots and protect the Chosen." Kratos said abruptly.

Colette internally winced, not that she minded being the Chosen, but people tended to forget that she was Colette as well. The way Luke scowled to the side, he seemed to think so too. Was that why the two didn't like each other?

"A good idea Kratos" the Professor agreed, before turning to the blonde "if that is okay with you Colette?"

Raine was always nice, asking what she wanted to do. "Yep" Colette smiled. And Raine smiled a little smile. She would be pretty if ever she smiled fully the young Chosen thought.

Kratos then talked about formation, and explained to Luke what Unison Attacks were. Colette already knew, so she didn't listen. But if Luke didn't know what team attacks were,it probably meant he travelled on his own.

Of course, they couldn't help but fight monsters since the world wasn't regenerated yet. Maybe when she became and angel, they would all vanish, then Lloyd could continue his craft work instead of using his swords all the time. That was a nice thought. She shook her head, thoughts like that were nice, but a distraction from her mission. That's why she left Lloyd and Genis behind. If anything happened to them... Well at least now they were safe.

The heat. It made Luke remember why he hated deserts. The sand made movement harder, it got everywhere, and the heat dulled everything with exhaustion! It was not fun! When he got back to Aulderant, Luke promised himself to spend a week in Keterburg to just lie in the snow and forget about deserts.

No one talked much for the duration of the trip to Triet, going over their own thoughts or ignoring the desert heat, that mostly bothered Luke, but was swiftly forgotten when shade and water were finally available.

"We're here so what should we do now?" The redhead asked, hoping to stop. Unfortunately his wish would not be granted, as Kratos quickly pulled him and the others behind a wall.

"Be quiet and look over there!" The mercenary ordered. Where he pointed, Desians roamed around the streets, checking every nook and cranny for something. Probably Colette.

"We need to be careful around here." Raine said, "Triet doesn't have a non-aggression pact with the Desians like Iselia does. For now let's see if we can find some information about the Triet Ruins. We can check into an inn and shop for items later once the Desians have left."

Kratos and Raine ignored Luke's grumbles of complaint.

* * *

The four ended up walking around the town dodging any Desians that came too close. Any that thought they were suspicious were guided to Raine who would passionately about the ruins, their history, their architecture, and anything really that came to mind would suddenly find that they had other things to do and proceed to walk away educated and slightly creeped out.

All in all they managed to keep a low profile until Colette defied Gnome's laws of gravity and tripped, causing a merchant to stumble, but more importantly leaving a human shaped imprint on the sidewalk. How that was even possible was anyone's guess, even Lorelei was speechless, maybe it was her gift as Chosen, or maybe it was just dumb luck? Of course the merchant who stumbled was not happy and started shouting in an annoyed merchant fashion, forcing Raine to step forward and try to defuse the situation. Really she was the only one who probably could, Kratos was just plain threatening, Luke would get embarrassed, and Colette would just buy all his wares as an apology. Very quickly the elven professor calmed down the situation, her words pacifying him until; "You're the Chosen?!"

All eyes turned at the mention of the Chosen, whispering began in the streets, which one was the Chosen? Where were they? Had the Journey already begun? The merchant on the other hand immediately walked forward almost bowing to Colette. "I am so terribly sorry, I did not realise you were the Chosen. Please forgive me! And allow me to be included in the Regeneration!" he apologised over and over almost grovelling at her feet.

"It's alright! It was my fault for tripping." The young Chosen said very flustered, her hands waving in front of her as she tried to distance herself from the terrified man.

Kratos at this point had had enough this whole affair was getting beyond ridiculous in his opinion. "The Chosen has apologised and offered you compensation. What more could you want? Stop acting like she will kill you."

"But I have occurred her wrath!" the merchant wailed "My shop is cursed! No one shall buy anything once they find out I was rude to the Chosen!"

Raine and Kratos sighed. That is when Luke decided to step in against his better judgment. "How about we buy something, to show it's not cursed?"

The merchant jumped on the idea "Yes. Yes! I could sell you them at a discount! Then everyone would come to buy my wares. The Chosen has blessed them, it is the best advertisement!"

"Um... Yeah?" Luke was suddenly confused again. Colette was also confused, so she smiled and thanked the man. Maybe he was just a little crazy is all? And Raine and Kratos were thankful that they could finally get out of the situation, but not before asking about the Temple of Fire. The merchant directed them to the Fortune-Teller before he scuttled off, muttering about new business plans.

The Fortune-Teller's tent was cooler on the inside, which was a bonus in everyone's book. It was filled with boxes, pots and mirrors, but what really drew attention was the crystal ball on the small table in the middle of the room. Seated at the table was a middle-aged woman with a clever glint in her eyes.

"Welcome to the House of Fortune. What would you like me to divine for you?" The lady greeted as she eyed each of the three people in the room. Kratos was standing guard outside. Before any of them could ask, she spoke again "Colette Brunel. The Chosen of Regeneration, am I correct?" she asked tilting her head with a coy smile. Colette gasped, Luke's eyes widened and Raine put her hand to her chin in thought.

"Do not worry" the lady continued "I foresaw your exact arrival in my crystal ball, and your Cruxis Crystal. Now I assume you would like to know where the Temple of Fire is located?"

"Yes. Are you going to help us?" The professor questioned, not wanting a Desian trap or another merchant-like person.

The Fortune-Teller nodded before asking for the groups map, she marked of a spot to the east which appeared to be a small oasis "The Temple of Fire lies at the oasis that was destroyed when Efreet lost control."

"That's a long trip, at least a day or more." Raine noted

The lady moved her fingers across the map, "I can guide you to the shortest path that leads to the temple. But once you are inside I may no longer assist, nor can I tell you anything about it outside. I am forbidden from aiding in the trials."

"Yes I am aware of that." Colette spoke up, some unspoken agreement passing between her and the lady. "So when should we leave for the temple?"

"Tomorrow would be best. We shouldn't stay in a Desian occupied town more than a day." Raine proposed, to which the lady agreed.

"Early tomorrow morning we shall depart. Is that alright with you Chosen?"

Colette nodded, "Yes." To which the Fortune-Teller gave a smile satisfied before turning to Raine to finish preparations.

Colette and Luke stepped outside and explained everything to Kratos. He listened and gave a curt nod. With the next day planned, all that was left to do was stock up on supplies. At first the group snuck around, wary of Desians but quickly noted that their 'enemy' was absent, which was a very good thing considering earlier commotion. It seemed like Colette's luck was shining through.

In the inn, Luke had nothing better to do, what with Kratos and Colette talking in the other room and Raine reading a book her face telling him that it wasn't a good idea to bother her. Especially with those glasses, the elf was scarier in glasses. Why were people with glasses scary? It made no sense!

 **Luke, do you have a fear of people in glasses?**

The question was so unexpected to Luke that he almost dropped his sharpening tools. If Raine noticed then she didn't say anything.

'What are you talking about!'

 **You seem to have an aversion to people who wear glasses, even though you highly respect them. Like Jade.**

'Nope. Not doing this.' He did not want to start that conversation. Ever. 'Anyway, I had other questions I wanted to ask.'

Lorelei seemed upset at the sudden change of subject, but complied anyway. **What do you need to know?**

'Well, how come this world has an Efreet and a sorceress' ring as well? I thought Yulia made the one Mieu carried.'

 **I can't explain about Efreet, I am just as surprised as you. But back during the time of Mithos, a meteorite impacted the planet. The meteorite was found by Mithos and his companions, and they soon discovered it radiated powerful mana. They carved it into a magical ring that could be used by anyone; elf, human and dwarf; it didn't matter. It has since been used by every Chosen. The name must be a complete coincidence.**

'Alright, I think I understand... So what about Colette? Why is she the Chosen specifically? She doesn't seem like the kind of person you'd trust in saving the world.'

 **Neither did you Luke, yet here you are. Though I am inclined to agree, she does seem woefully underprepared. As for why she was exactly chosen, I do not know.** He sounded almost regretful.

'More stuff not in the planet's memory huh?'

 **Precisely my scion.**

Luke and Lorelei continued to talk a little while longer, until Luke got bored of his sharoening his sword, and the sentience got tired. How he got tired Luke would never know. But it left the redhead with nothing better to do that to check up on his comrades.

Raine didn't even lift her head up as he left. She did lift it however, with an unbridled amount of rage as she heard the very familiar voice of her younger brother.

"Luke! Oh thank Martel! We have a serious problem, Lloyd..."

The elven professor slammed her book and opened the door, glaring at her younger brother, "Is this problem more serious than disobeying me when I specifically told you and Lloyd to stay in Iselia? And how did you even get here? I should just..." she stopped as she properly looked at Genis. He looked panicked which was understandable, but also like he hadn't had a proper nights rest in a while.

Genis looked to his older sister, he looked so scared "Raine! Lloyd was taken by the Desians! It's all my fault. I should have asked him. Raine, I'm sorry!" he was shouting at this point, making both Colette and Kratos to come see the commotion.

"Genis! What are you doing here? Where's Lloyd?" Colette was shocked at seeing Genis. He was supposed to stay safe in Iselia.

"Colette! It's Lloyd he's-" Genis was cut off by his sister pulling him into a hug.

"Genis calm down, then tell us everything from the beginning." She instructed gently, she was furious and seeing Genis' guilt she knew that he felt he was partially to blame, but shouting at someone who already felt bad was pointless.

Genis let go at his sister and began to talk as he stared at the ground "On the day of the Oracle, Lloyd and I went to the Human Ranch. I had been going there for a few days before to visit one of the prisoners there, but it was the first time Lloyd went with me."

"So you violated the non-aggression treaty between the Ranch an Iselia?"

"W-well, Marble, she was punished for goofing off while talking to us. She was just an old lady. Lloyd got angry with how the Desians were treating her and wanted to save her, so we devised a plan to distract the Desians from Marble.

"I guess Lloyd got spotted, because the next day the Desians attacked Iselia, demanding for Lloyd. They set the village on fire! And brought a monster to attack us. A-and then... the monster, it was Marble! They put and exsphere on here and removed it turning her into that monster. We killed her! The Mayor banished us from the village! We had nowhere else to go." He finished sadly, his head hung low in shame. It was all his fault. Everything was Genis' fault. He was supposed to be the smart one, now look at where that got him.

Raine, Colette and Luke were shocked. Not just by Genis' actions, but by the cruelty of the Mayor and the Desians. The Desians were bad, but now they were turning people into monsters. Surprisingly it was not Luke that spoke up as Raine expected, but Colette. The young Chosen put her hands on her friends shoulders forcing him to look at her.

"Genis, it's okay now. We are going to save Lloyd." There was no room for any argument. She wanted this even more than she knew. Colette refused to turn to any of the adults to ask for permission. She was going to save Lloyd.

"Are you sure about this Chosen?" Kratos asked even though he probably knew the answer anyway.

"Kratos, Professor. C'mon we are going to save Lloyd."

The professor could hardly say no. Even if he was a troublemaker she still had a soft spot for Lloyd, Kratos ended up grumbling "If we don't save Lloyd, the Chosen might not put her full effort into her duties."

And Luke readily agreed. Raine noted that he had a certain thing about saving people. "So you're coming with us?"

"It would appear so." Raine sighed. Hopefully one day Genis and Lloyd would stay out of trouble. One day.

"Thank you Mr Kratos! Thanks Professor!" Colette smiled brightly. At least she wouldn't be going alone.

Genis was smiling too, it was a small, sad smile but a smile non the less! "Noishe is with us. He can lead us to the Desian's base."

Leaving the Temple of Fire for another day, the group left the inn and followed Noishe across the desert to save Lloyd.

Meanwhile...

"Ow." Lloyd groaned as he woke up on a hard floor. Everything hurt as he slowly got up, looking at his unfamiliar surroundings, the brunette couldn't help but notice that the room resembled a jail cell. As he tried to remember how he got into this situation, two Desian soldiers were talking just outside his cell.

"...if so, I feel sorry for that poor Lloyd kid." one said, his voice clearly contradicting his words.

"Yeah. He can't possibly escape execution." the other snickered.

Execution. The word branded itself to Lloyd's mind. He couldn't die here! Survival instinct kicked in, forcing him to look for a way out, examining the cell from top to bottom, seeing if he had his equipment on him. Unfortunately the guards and cell had done a good job. The room was sealed tight save for the bars, and he only had his clothes on him. Well, at least he wasn't naked. That would have been embarrassing.

"Hey! You two!" An angry, but somehow familiar voice shouted at the two lazy Desians "Get Irving and bring him to Lord Botta! The execution will have to wait, seems there is still something he needs from this kid."

The two Desians seemed to shrink as they listened to their apparent commanding officer. Lloyd turned his back to the Desians. Maybe he could surprise attack one of them, and he would have to acknowledge their presence.

"You're coming with us. Don't even try to escape, someone like you couldn't even comprehend a faculty like this." Desian #1 said

"You can make this easier or harder on yourself kid. Choose wisely." Desian #2 added

The Desian in charge sighed loudly, sounding very fed up "Just get him to Botta."

The familiarity in the voice was staring to bug Lloyd. He only turned around when the heard the door opening. Desian #1 and #2 were dressed in generic Desian armour, even with the customary whip. Figuring no pain was better than pain for being stubborn, Lloyd followed them out, though he didn't bother to hide his annoyance.

"Hey dreck" the commanding Desian spoke "Just be thankful you're not dead yet. Our leader could easily change his mind about your worth."

Lloyd was about to retort something he probably thought was witty, but all words failed him when he looked at the Desian commander fully. The red hair was the first give away, as were the green eyes, but there was no mistaking it.

"Luke?!" he shouted in shock. He could not believe it. Standing in front of him was Luke, dressed in red and black like a Desian. His hair was slicked back, but was still just as long. The only thing that truly looked different were his eyes. They were glaring at Lloyd in full annoyance. So much hatred was suddenly there.

Luke seemed surprised for a second, before he glared at Luke and turned away, waving for the other two Desians "Take him to Botta, I have something to take care of. You know where he is right?"

"Yes Lord Asch!" They saluted, dragging Lloyd to wherever this 'Lord Botta' was, leaving Luke- no Asch behind, who seemed deep in thought.

Lloyd had given up fighting. Luke was really a Desian this whole time. But if he was here, where were Colette, the Professor and Kratos?

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **Hello! First of all, I am so sorry for not updating. I am sure you've heard this before, and will probably hear it again from me. I have no planned schedule for this story, but at the least I shall get one chapter out a month. Secondly, I have four reviews! Thank you so much to everyone who like the story, read it, favorite it (I have 7 people who did that!) followed it (11!), everything really. Now to answer the reviews since last chapter I was too lazy:**

 **Love Psycho:** **I seem to see you everywhere there is a Tales Of story. Thank you for always reading the stories and reviewing, it truly means a lot. Anyway, thank you for the tips, and do not worry, I have something planned for Raine and Luke.**

 **Guest:** **I don't know who you are but thank you!**

 **Vetrenar:** **Thank you for reviewing! And do not fear, the only time I shall abandon this story is when I have written and published the final chapter! As for the cost of the JOR line, that was most likely an error on my part when rewriting the first nine chapters, but who knows, I could work with it too. And do not worry about your English, it is very good, I study English at uni and have seen worse. Much worse.**

 **Wolf Moon Light:** **Thank you for enjoying this, and as I said before, I shall only give up once the final chapter is published!**

 **Anyway, a big thanks to everyone once again, as now we have finished the rewrite of the original story. Chapter 6 shall be only new content! I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am. Toodles!**


	6. Chapter 6: Operation Save Lloyd Go!

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 6:

"What should we do to get in?" Colette asked in a whisper. For the moment the group of heroes were hiding in some bushes, surveying the Desian base as they planned their next course of action.

"Well, it depends" Luke frowned in thought, "do you want to sneak in? Or break down the front door?"

"We can't be seen!" Genis suddenly exclaimed, his eyes wide in a panic "The village will be attacked again!" Then, he seemed to realise what he just said, once again looking downcast. Raine held her younger brother close as she gently stroked his hair.

"I know Genis, I know." Raine said softly, before turning towards the rest of the group. "Well, it looks like we shall sneak in."

"It would be better," Kratos agreed "since we have the Chosen with us. Hiding her from the Desians should be a priority."

Very quickly the Chosen's group started planning their infiltration, Colette praying to Martel that Lloyd was alright.

… Meanwhile! Lloyd was being dragged off, glaring daggers at the redhead in front of him. He had tried talking to Luke, but apart from a few insults of dreck (What did that even mean!) and smirks, the Desian hadn't given a helpful reply. Was the Lu -Asch, (that was what the Desian called him) spent with him, Colette and Genis really nothing but a lie? Lloyd refused to believe that. Luke wasn't aggressive, he was kind, friendly, nothing like the Desian in front of him. It was like they were two different people.

"Can you at least tell me your name if it isn't Luke?" Lloyd tried again. He had to know, was his name truly Asch? Or had Luke somehow come to save him?

Fortunately for the prisoner another Desian spoke up, but he missed the sudden anger on the Desians face. "Lord Asch! If you wish we could whip him to make him quiet!"

The redhead visibly cringed, muttering something about 'Knights' and 'less vocal'. It did seem however that he was Asch. So why would he change his name? Too many questions swirled around Lloyd's mind, like when he didn't understand Genis.. wait, if Luke was here, where were Colette, and the Professor? And what about Genis and Noishe? They were with him before he got captured.

"Did you kill them?" the words tumbled out of Lloyds mouth as he seethed. Asch only raised an eyebrow.

"Did you kill them? Colette? Genis? After everything you murdered them in cold blood!" the brunette shouted again, his face as red as his clothing, and his teeth bared almost snarling.

A Desian seemed worried, though no one could see his expression under his helmet "Sir, the prisoner..." he tried, only to be cut off by an angry redhead.

"He can try but he won't break free" Asch started "and if he does it will give me a good excuse to kill him. Because believe me dreck, I haven't killed a single thing since I got here! And that's not for lack of trying, now shut up!"

The two Desians immediately backed down, neither saying anything. To Lloyd they seemed scared, but Asch's words confused the young swordsman since the redhead had fought the Desians with them, and some had died. Was he lying? Then where did that rant come from? Did it mean Colette was alive?

He only realised too late that he said that last part out loud.

A tired sigh escaped Asch "You can whip him now freaks."

Desian #1 perked up at this prospect "Can I?"

Asch stared at the Desian bewildered, then shook his head "Just get him to Botta. I have some business to take care of. Fail me, and you won't see the sun rise tomorrow." The threat was clear, silencing once again the prisoner and his guards.

Now, Lloyd may not have been the best at school, however, he knew and opportunity when he saw one, even if he couldn't spell opportunity. With his strength thanks to his exsphere, Lloyd could probably punch the Desians easily. Then he had to figure out how to get his cuffs off. Once he did that he could get his swords. Simple! Right … ?

So much for subtlety as the front of the base exploded. Wasn't Genis the advocate for not being seen? Not that it mattered any more as the young elf hurled another fireball at an oncoming Desian.

Genis was having way too much fun for what he was actually doing. Was it the trauma? Catharsis? Who knew? He couldn't attack the Iselian Ranch, and he remembered the fact that Iselia had exiled him, he could do what he wanted, maybe by doing this he could save a little old lady. The Desians couldn't harm his home any longer and he refused to live in fear, so what could a little larceny change?

"Asch sir!" A Desian came running through the corridors leaving himself very tired an dout of breath. "Some – some strangers are attacking!"

The redhead appeared to grow angrier by the second, it seemed like the vein on his forehead would explode (Kind of like the building they were currently in). "Great. What do they look like?" The Desian didn't answer, "How are they attacking?" Still nothing "What are you supposed to do when someone attacks?" And still not reply. In all honesty the Desian looked a little confused.

Asch could not believe how stupidly underprepared they were. No wonder why Yuan wasn't making any progress. It was all so stupid! Like a stupid dreck! "You know what? Never mind! I'll take care of them myself!"

He stomped off. Seriously, he thought the Oracle knights of his division were bad, but Yuan army of idiots took the cake! Speaking of Yuan, he would have to have so many words with him later over the management of his subordinates, they were all stupid, like the dreck never knowing when to tale the initiative or work independently. And the stupid dreck was in this world too according to the prisoner. Though is shouldn't surprise him. He could never escape the damned thing could he?

"Genis!" Raine hissed "I thought we were supposed to sneak in!"

The silverette looked back at his sister who was staying at the back of the fight "Raine! Don't tell me you haven't wanted to do this yourself?!"

"That's not the point! Are you even thinking about the damage you could be doing to innocent people?" the professor argued "You already broke the treaty once!"

"Why should we care? They just use the Ranch as an excuse to hide and do nothing!" Genis shot back fiercely "At first it was to protect Colette so now why? What about the people in the Ranch, are they just supposed to die?"

To that Raine didn't have an answer.

Luke kept an eye on the younger boy, he noticed Kratos doing the same. What happened in Iselia had shaken him up pretty bad if he completely threw Colette's safety out of the window.

The plan was to sneak in, subduing any guards on the way, find Lloyd and sneak out. Simple with room for improvisation, however it seemed like whatever fate had in store for Luke didn't like it when things went his way. Genis had lost his cool and things had quickly descended into a chaos of Desian soldiers. They really needed to find Lloyd and get out fast.

That was two Desians down. Unfortunately neither of them had any keys, so Lloyd had already ruined his own plan. "I got lucky they forgot about the exsphere." Lloyd mumbled out loud. He was still stuck in handcuffs, but that was better than being stuck with two Desians.

"Why am I stuck with this?" A voice bemoaned. The sound made Lloyd jump and duck behind a behind. Maybe he if he could catch this Desian by surprise he would be alright.

"First the prisoner, then the intruders, then Lord Asch, and now I have to report to Lord Yuan... I'm going to die. Die and never be found." the Desian whined.

So where he was going was a no go for Lloyd. That was until he saw something jangle on the Desians belt, a set of shiny keys dangled innocently.

"Of course." Lloyd muttered.

"Well, we're inside. And the alarms are ringing. What now?" Luke asked once the Desians had lost them.

"We should look for Lloyd!" Colette stressed once again "I don't want the Desians to hurt him."

Genis concurred "If he is hurt because of me, I..." he trailed off

"Standing around won't do anything." Kratos said "we should find the prison cells and execution area."

"Wait execution. Why would they execute him?" Luke exclaimed.

Nobody answered his question. They were too afraid of the truth themselves.

The group hurried through the compound, arriving in front of the holding cells where some Desian guards seemed to be waiting for them. They didn't last long. Once the guards were subdued, the Chosen's group searched the holding cells.

"No one's here." Luke noted as he looked around once again.

"Maybe he escaped?" Genis sounded hopeful.

"Or he was taken to be executed." Kratos added. Once again nobody answered, but still gave him a withering glare.

"Hey, I heard Forcystus is getting suspicious."

The rescue team froze as a couple of Desians walked past. They could take them out, Kratos and Luke ready to, but Raine held out her hand, to her this seemed like important information.

"Yuan isn't going to be happy about this. For once his plans were actually working."

"I know, Lord Botta and the other one, the new one , what's his name again? Ember? Kindle? I don't know, anyway, they're both running around looking for the intruders, making sure the prisoners doesn't escape and stuff, so I heard they left the one prisoner with the special exsphere to Dolt and Dolton."

"Oh man, I hope those two stay safe. The intruders are probably here for him."

"Come on, we should find a place out of the way."

As the two walked off they wondered why they felt the need to stop and talk about all that. Nut they quickly brushed it off and continued on.

The group turned towards each other, so Lloyd was currently being guarded by two grunts. Two Desian Lords were running around trying to find them, and the alarm was still going!

"Why aren't there more guards about with the alarms going? They can't all be like those two." the redhead questioned out loud.

"Maybe they are all looking for Lloyd, or hiding." Genis replied. He seemed a lot better now than earlier, hopefully this would continue.

"If we get to a control room, maybe we could shut the alarm off and find Lloyd." Raine suggested, though the glint in her eye said she had more violent things in mind.

Yuan had had a good day. Had being the important word. His plans were going along smoothly, the Chosen had begun her journey, the assassin would begin her work and according to Botta's earlier report, he may have found the angelus project, though the larger man refused to explain how. And most importantly, Yuan had gotten his hands on some nice tea. Things were really going well. They were.

"Sir Yuan!" The door banged open, startling the blue haired man, almost making him drop his tea.

"What? Couldn't you knock before coming in?"

"Sorry sir! But I am here to inform you that the special prisoner has escaped, he is running around the building." as the grunt finished the alarms started blaring. "A group of intruders are running around as well, one of them looks like-"

The unfortunate grunt could not finish his report, because someone had used his swords to knock him out and steal the keys of his belt.

Yuan knew his day was just too good. Next thing he knew Kratos would have infiltrated the building.

Lloyd quickly unlocked his hand cuffs happy to finally be able to properly use his swords, he was so happy that he didn't notice the other man in the room. Yuan watched Lloyd with an eyebrow raised.

"And just who the hell are you?" he asked, hoping the boy was stupid enough to answer the question and not notice the mana gathering in his hand.

Lloyd looked up at the blue haired Desian "Give me your name and I shall give you mine."

This made Yuan laugh, the brat was cocky, reminded him of someone. "You certainly have guts. But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you."

"What a coincidence, cause I don't see the need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realise how pathetic he is."

A little too cocky this little,.. Oh well, he was going to die anyway. Yuan drew his hand back to attack the little shit and Lloyd drew his swords ready to defend himself, his exshpere shining with the adrenalin he was feeling. The blue haired man stopped his eyes widening in shock. No wonder why Botta wouldn't tell him straight away.

"An exsphere! You're Lloyd!?"

Lloyd tried to hide his surprise as he backed up a little "And what if I am?"

No wonder he was reminded. "I see the resemblance" Yuan noted as he approached for a better look.

The brunette held up his swords in front of him, ready to pounce on the Desian, when the alarms stopped. The two looked up suddenly, just what the hell was going on.

"Sir!" Botta called as he ran into the room flanked by a few grunts. "It's the Chosen's group! You need to leave, they have him with them!"

Lloyd stared at the larger Desian, before the realisation hit him "You! You're the Desian that attacked Iselia!" he spat angrily.

The other Desian grinned viciously, "And you're Lloyd. Now this will be amusing."

Yuan on the other hand decided he needed to go now. "Botta! I'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me."

"But what of the Chosen?"

"I'll leave that to you." Yuan said, with a swish of his cape he turned to his ex-prisoner. "Lloyd, the next time we meet you're mine. Just you wait." And with dramatic flair, he was gone, leaving Lloyd a bit confused over what just happened and why the blue haired man was so dramatic.

The situation at hand however wasn't looking very good. Last time he fought this 'Botta', Colette, Genis and.. Luke were there, and Kratos had come to help. Lloyd was confident in his own abilities, but he wasn't stupid. THAT stupid.

Then a fireball happened, Botta and his men were forced away from the young swordsman. In the doorway was Genis sporting a cocky grin with his kendama in front of him, behind him Raine stood firm with a glare that could kill,and Colette had her eyes on Lloyd with a relieved smile.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" the Chosen asked, her eyes now filled with worry as she spied the Desians.

"He looks fine." Kratos remarked form the rear.

"Thank Lorelei." Luke mumbled, earning him a strange look from the mercenary.

Lloyd on the other hand was genuinely surprised, things kept on happening! "You guys all came for me?"

Botta gripped his weapon tighter. He tried to look on the positive side of things, "perfect timing, I'll take care of everyone at once!" the Desian roared as he charged forward.

The fight was not a long one, the two grunts going down very quickly and with Raine healing, the Desians who earlier seemed so scary to Lloyd, Colette and Genis was rather easy to defeat, especially when Kratos broke his weapon.

Botta was flung backwards by the blow, he slowly got up, holding his injured arm. Everyone heard the crack when the mercenary struck.

"Ugh" he groaned "I underestimated your abilities. But believe me, this isn't over!"

With one last threat, the hulking Desian and his flunkies fled, leaving the group to breath a sigh of relief at last.

"Lloyd, you escape all by yourself! We hardly needed to come." Luke grinned as he approached.

Lloyd froze, before slowly turning towards the redhead, his face changed from pure shock to absolute hatred. "You! You traitor! How could you?!" he shouted making everyone jump.

"Lloyd? What are you on about?" Raine asked

"Professor! He is working with the Desians! I swear!" The brunette pointed his swords at Luke. "He's the one who dragged me from my cell!"

tales

"Lloyd, did you hit your head? Are you okay?" Genis asked, unable to keep his voice from quivering.

"Genis I'm fine! I'm telling you, don't trust him!" Lloyd argued once again. He knew what he saw.

Colette walked up to her friend "Lloyd, Luke was with us the whole time, he couldn't have been with you. Please, we can talk about this later, now we need to go."

The young swordsman looked between his friend and the traitor, he didn't know what to do. He was sure it was Luke, if it wasn't who was he? Lloyd put his head down in shame, three of the most important people in his life didn't believe him.

Raine watched as Lloyd visibly slumped. He was saved, but he wasn't happy. What had her student seen? The elf knew that the younger mercenary was different, she had discussed it with Genis, he didn't feel like a human, nor like an elf, and he definitely wasn't a dwarf. She had to get to the bottom of this mystery. But right now...

"Lloyd, Genis told me what happened." She looked at her younger brother, who was next to his best friends, "I apologize for the trouble he has caused you."

The swordsman looked up at the professor "No." he denied firmly "I'm the one who dragged Genis into it. I'm sorry."

Genis was about to say something, when a growl emanated from the older mercenary. "I think we have wasted enough time here, we should leave now."

"You're right. I'll open the escape route, oh, and Lloyd, could you pick up that sword for me." Raine asked as she walked over to the desk. The young swordsman did as he was told.

Nobody said anything to Luke as they escaped, Raine asked about exspheres and what they were exactly, but the redhead was barely listening. He was thinking over Lloyd's words, and why nobody had questioned him about Lloyd's accusation, and just who he saw.

'Lorelei, do you think it could have been Asch?'

 **It very well could have been. He didn't truly die after all.**

'Oh yeah, the contamination effect. But he died before that, he had a sword in his stomach.'

 **I wonder, both you and Asch are a puzzle even I have yet to solve.**

'But if it was Asch, why hasn't he contacted us yet? And why is he with the Desians?'

 **I don't think he was ever very good at picking sides, or he just likes opposing you.**

Luke shook his head. It didn't make sense, Asch was alive? The thought made him so happy, they could both live again! When they got home, he was going to drag Asch to Baticul to see Mother and Father, and of course Natalia. She would be so happy!

In spite of Lloyd's accusations, Luke found that he was very happy.

Finally the group arrived in Triet, the sun was low on the horizon, giving a relieving chill to the desert heat.

Genis leaned forward with a sigh "I'm so beat. I want to rest."

Lloyd looked at his best friend "Yeah. Let's head to the inn and talk." At those last words he glared at Luke.

The six of them sat in one of the rooms, as Raine and Kratos asked Lloyd about what happened in the Desian base, between his capture, and supposed sighting of 'Luke'.

"So Lloyd, did you find out what was this Desian Lords name was?" Raine asked calmly, secretly thankful that her student wasn't hurt by the Desians.

Lloyd thought back, he didn't have to think too hard. "He didn't say his name, but the minions called him Asch."

Luke tried his hardest to keep his emotions in check, Colette was his only way home, he couldn't afford to leave them now, and he didn't want to abandon her to whatever fate had in store. All eyes were on the redhead, he didn't flinch, and kept his expression neutral, he would tell them one day, but not now.

"Luke does this name mean anything to you?" Kratos questioned

"No nothing." he replied, feeling terrible that he had to lie. Couldn't he just tell them the truth? Colette would be wiling to help him, she could ask Remiel for him, see if there was a way.

 **Luke, don't. We don't truly know what is happening, and what would happen. It is best we don't tell them.**

"Well Luke, we only have your word to go on." Raine stated "Colette, what do you think?"

"Professor! You can't ask that of Colette!" Lloyd disagreed with putting this on her shoulders.

"It's okay Lloyd, I trust Luke. I want him to come with us. And he accepted the mayor's pay." The Chosen giggled. "Lloyd, if you don't trust him that's okay."

The brunette blushed at Colette's words, how had she sussed him out so easily? "It's not that.." he mumbled scratching his cheek. He couldn't trust Luke, not yet anyway, he would protect Colette and make sure Luke wouldn't hurt her.

"Now that this affair is settled, Lloyd, this crystalline object attached to this weapon is an exsphere isn't it?" Raine asked as she pulled the broken weapon.

Everybody stared at the professor, just where had she kept that weapon?

"It would seem so." Kratos answered for the young swordsman as he inspected the weapon.

The brunet stared dumbfounded, until he remembered the battle at Martel Temple, and the mercenary's glowing hand. "Oh yeah, you use an exsphere too."

"... so you noticed."

"Well duh." Lloyd shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So what are they exactly?" Raine asked, ever curious. Luke and Colette also leaned in, hoping to get some answers.

"Well, they make you stronger," Lloyd answered "it's why I can jump really high!"

"They don't make you stronger, they release strength you already had." Kratos corrected.

"Wait, I was always this strong?"

"Not consciously no."

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, "Professor, what does 'consciously' mean?"

"Lloyd, look that up as homework. You as well Luke."

"WHAT?" both boys cried out.

"Lloyd, if you are coming with us, then don't think you can skip on your studies, and Luke, I think you need to catch up in your studies, a years break is a lot, but I think you can do it." the elf explained. "Anyway, exspheres. If I understand correctly, they are amplifiers that awaken our dormant capabilities." Her eyes shone with, was that love? "I wonder if I could use one."

"I wouldn't want to use one." Luke muttered

"Why? They do seem very useful." Raine asked, she wanted one.

"I like fighting without one, I would insult my master if I used an advantage." Luke explained, before considering his words, "No offence Kratos, Lloyd."

"None taken, it would be difficult for you to use one anyway. Exspheres are harmful to the body without a key crest." Kratos said

Colette tilted her head to the side, "Um... can't we make one?"

"No, a key crest is made by processing inhibitor ore, then engraving it with a crest to control the exsphere attached to its surface. It is said to be a secret art known only to the dwarves."

Lloyd perked up "Yeah. I can engrave that charm-er, crest, but only dad can process the ore."

Raine however was one step ahead of the boys, as she pulled out a large sack of rocks and ores. Genis groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. "Raine! Did you bring these from our house?!"

"Of course. They're valuable research materials." Raine explained simply before divulging into an explanation of every item she brought.

"What the? It's all junk!" Lloyd exclaimed

Raine approached her student ready to rain down fury upon him.

"Note to self, never insult anything to do with Raine. Ever." Luke mumbled, just loud enough for Colette and Genis to hear and snicker to themselves.

Kratos on the other hand noticed something in the 'junk', a small shining gemstone. "Hmm? This is..."

Lloyd used Raines momentary lapse in fury to runaway and look at what Kratos was holding "Professor! That's a key crest." And please don't hurt me.

The mercenary examined the stone closer, "The crest is half worn off. It's unusable like this."

The young swordsman had another bright idea of how to get Raine off his back and to have less homework, "I can fix that. Don't worry professor, you'll be able to equip that exsphere tomorrow."

"Really?! Thank you Lloyd! I'm sorry to make you go through the trouble, but I appreciate it." and with a sly smile she added "But you still have to do your homework on the idea of conscious! You too Luke."

The two boys groaned, she just made the homework harder.

It was late at night, and Luke was still awake, for the past few hours he did everything he could to contact Asch, apparently their dubbed 'convenient communications network' wasn't so convenient after all, and Lorelei wasn't much help. Honestly, Luke was starting to wonder whether or not he should trust the aggregate sentience of the seventh fonon or not. Something was off, and he still didn't truly understand why he should keep his identity a secret, and with Lorelei refusing to fully explain, the redhead was stuck with just his thoughts as company. It was made even worse by the fact that most of his companions didn't trust him, well he couldn't say the feeling was unfamiliar.

"Heheheheheh! So this is an exsphere! MARVELOUS!"

Well, at least someone was happy. Lloyd must have finished the crest for Raine. Luke didn't know what he should feel about the young swordsman. He liked him, and understood why Lloyd no longer considered him trustworthy, maybe he could try and talk to him tomorrow. Help him with his swordsmanship or something.

A small knock brought him out of his musings, Colette gently opened the door to his and Lloyd's room. "Luke, are you awake?"

"Hey Colette, what's up?"

The Chosen held her hands behind her back as she thought on her words, "I'm not bothering you am I?"

"No, could sleep just yet anyway." Luke said as he sat up.

"Is what Lloyd said bothering you? Because I meant what I said, Lloyd will come around too, he's just stubborn." She said the last part with a fond smile.

"You two really know each other don't you." the redhead remarked "But why do you trust me so much? I could be a traitor for all you know, I could be hiding many dark secrets."

"I know, but I choose to trust you. I think you are a kind person Luke." The Chosen said with a smile. Her words reminded Luke of a certain green haired boy. "I don't think you would betray us."

"Thanks Colette." Luke said with a smile of his own, she said exactly what he needed to hear, just how did she know?

"It's okay, I just wanted you to know. Goodnight."

"Night."

Luke decided that perhaps he should go to sleep, and let peaceful dreams of lush green forests and Cheagles fill his mind.


	7. Chapter 7: Trials Of Triet

Symphonic Abyss

Chapter 7: Trials and Tribulations of Triet

"Heheheheheh! So this is an Exsphere! MARVELOUS!"

Lloyd cringed as he heard the professor mumble to herself. He wondered if she was like this every night, and how Genis could sleep through it. Would Genis become as crazy as the Professor? The thought made him cringe harder, he should stop Genis from doing homework. He was going to walk back to his and Luke's room, when the front door of the inn slammed shut. Was Luke sneaking around? He had to go check, for Colette's safety!

Turns out it was just Kratos petting Noishe. Wait-

"Whoa!" the young man yelped in surprise as a sword came for his neck

"Lloyd" the mercenary sheathed his sword with a world weary sigh, he had almost killed the boy, "I'm sorry to have startled you."

Lloyd threw his hands to his neck, checking it over as best as he could, "Startled isn't the word for it! You could have killed me!"

Kratos turned a little to the side, "You'd best not stand behind me..." he mumbled.

"I, I won't..." Lloyd replied.

Neither said anything more, the night had very quickly become awkward for the two of them. Even the dog whined with the strange atmosphere.

"So, um, do you like animals?" the brunet tried, and no, his voice did not go bizarrely high pitched at the end of the question. "You were just stroking Noishe and well, you don't really seem like the type and..."

"No, not particularly."

Oh. "Well, Noishe seems to like you anyway, he usually doesn't like strangers. But he did like Luke at first so maybe he's getting better? He still runs away from monsters though." Lloyd turned to his dog "Noishe you make no sense."

The most-definitely-a-dog dog didn't seem to understand and just leaned into Kratos' touch. He was loving this.

"He likes Luke?" the mercenary asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I don't know why though," Lloyd scratched Noishe's ear as he thought, "Kratos? Do you trust Luke?"

"Trust is a strong word. I trust him to fight alongside me as he has done, but I would not tell him my life story so to speak." Kratos explained slowly. "Trust is a strange thing."

"So, you trust him, but you don't?" Lloyd tried.

"I trust him in a fight, nothing more. The same way I trust your friend to support us with artes, and I trust his sister to heal us. We haven't known each other for a deeper trust."

"A deeper trust? I don't even trust Luke now! I heard the door slam and thought he was sneaking out." The brunet exclaimed, clearly very upset. "I see that Desian Lord every time I look at him."

"Well Lloyd, I can say that Luke was with us during the entire rescue. Whoever that was, connected they may be, it wasn't Luke." Kratos reassured the young boy. "If you can't trust him, trust Colette. That is what I suspect the others are doing."

Lloyd was quiet as he mulled over Kratos' words. He'd never thought about trust. In Iselia he could trust anyone, then he was exiled along with Genis... Well, there was one person he could trust without the shadow of a doubt.

He went to pet his dog to the find the overgrown lump rolled over on Kratos' feet, tongue hanging out in bliss.

"Are you sure you don't like animals? Noishe is way too happy."

"I had a pet once. A long time ago." Kratos replied simply.

"Huh." The brunet found it strange. This 'intimacy'' with Kratos. The stoic mercenary actually being nice to him? Did he trust him? Was it that he didn't actually hate Lloyd but was instead just a bit awkward? Was this a dream?

"Lloyd?" Kratos suddenly asked as he stared at the young swordsman.

"W-what? What are you staring at me like that for?" This was a dream slowly turning into a nightmare. Lloyd couldn't think of anything else.

"... Your swordsmanship is unrefined. Until you can trust all your comrades you should focus on eliminating your vulnerabilities."

"If you care about your life." He added.

Nope, Kratos was just weird. "Grrr! He's so annoying! Just because he's a little, okay, a LOT better than me he talks like he knows everything! Luke didn't do-" he stopped, he couldn't rely on Luke any more. He could only trust himself, Colette, Genis and the Professor. Actually, that was a lot of people.

His dog whined again, Lloyd smiled scratching him under the chin. "What am I going to do now?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Raine's room, Genis had been awoken by his obsessive sister and his best friend grabbing his nose.

"Raine! Why can't you let me sleep!" he whined burying his face in his pillow.

The Professor didn't lift her head from her notes "Genis, progress awaits no one. Not even sleep can stop it."

"Yes, but I have done my homework. I've contributed, now I want to sleep."

"Well, I can't fault you for that." Raine conceded to her brother. "I do hope Luke and Lloyd will do theirs."

Genis perked up as she mentioned that. "I had been meaning to ask about that. Why did you give those two homework? Luke I don't know about, but Lloyd won't do his unless we threaten him with tomatoes."

His sister finally put down her notes and exsphere. "A sense of normality. What are you and Lloyd going to do once this is all over? Neither of you can go back to Iselia so you'll have to find something outside of fighting monsters." she explained, all she wanted was to give Genis a normal life. Lloyd was a bonus, she cared for him as well, but Genis she had given so much. "As for Luke, it is to give him a sense of normality, but also to keep an eye on him. To see what he knows and how he thinks."

"To see how he thinks?"

"Yes. Homework and essays give professors a look into their students mind. After Lloyd's accusation, I need to figure out of Luke is a danger or not."

Genis looked at his sister "But Raine, do you think he is a threat?"

"Honestly Genis I don't know. I would like to believe not, however I know that Lloyd is not the type to lie. So for the moment, I am going to observe."

Genis nodded at his sisters words. He wanted to trust Luke, but Lloyd was his best friend. He thought over things as he fell asleep listening to Raine's mumbles.

* * *

In her short time on the road, Colette learned a few things. The most recent things she had learnt was that deserts were hot, and not everyone dealt with them well. Lloyd in his red coat seemed to be faring the worst, and Kratos the best. The two were talking, Kratos instructing the younger swordsman on techniques and how to improve his guard with only two swords. Although Lloyd looked a little annoyed, he did seem to be appreciating the quick lesson.

Behind them Genis and Raine were talking about complicated subjects that would make Lloyds head spin, and occasionally they would look back at Luke, then continue on with whatever they were saying. Luke was guarding the rear with Noishe looking rather lonely with only a dog for company. Lloyd's accusation still weighed heavily on their minds. Colette felt sorry for the redhead, he didn't do anything bad but he was still cast out. Maybe she should go talk to him again. Would she be able to do anything? She was the Chosen after all, it was her duty to save everyone. Colette sighed, she couldn't dwell on that now, she had the trial to focus on. If Colette wanted to succeed she needed to be the Chosen.

"Ah, so hot... man, I'm beat." Lloyd complained as the ruins came into view. He was sweating way too much, his coat tied around his waist.

Behind him Genis laughed, "See? You're already worn out."

Lloyd just glared at his best friend, "I'm sick of this desert!" he complained loudly.

"At least this isn't your third time going through it." Luke muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Colette to hear and smile. It didn't seem like he was too down just yet.

"So, these are the Triet Ruins." Kratos noted, he seemed somehow sad to Luke's eyes. On the other hand...

"Fantastic!" Raine cried out, examining every inch of the ruins. Everyone turned to Genis, who just shrugged, saying: "Why did I bother trying to hide it."

Whilst Raine was almost dying of over excitement, the others were trying to find the opening to the ruins. So far they weren't having much luck, until the slab caught Colette's attention. She cautiously approached avoiding Raine as she could. "I think this has my family crest on it."

Before Colette could even finish that sentence Raine was on the slab like a rappig on a carrot.

"Hahahaha! It's just as I thought!" the Professor was practically laying on the slab as she spoke, "The slab is clearly of a different composition than the surrounding stone! This is polycarbonate, developed during the Ancient War to defend against magic! It's sooo smooth! Oh there's a depression, … Oracle Stone? Colette! Put your hand on here."

The Chosen did as she was told, a little to bewildered by the Professor's ramblings. The slab rumbled, revealing an old stone stairway, cracked and a little broken.

Colette looked at her hand "Oh, it opened. I guess I really am the Chosen after all!"

"Yes Colette you really are." Luke said holding back a sigh. How could she even doubt it?! She had already seen Remiel only a few days ago!

Lloyd pushed past dragging his best friends along "Now it's really getting exciting! Let's hurry!"

To the side Kratos sighed a world weary sigh, "I hope that enthusiasm lasts."

The inside of the ruins was warmer than the outside desert. Black stone reflected an orange glow from the light under the stones.

"Wow! There's lava underneath!" Genis exclaimed as he carefully peered over the edge.

"Really? That's so cool!" Luke concurred as he looked over the edge. Mt Zaleho had nothing on ruins in lava.

Meanwhile Raine was jumping from place to place, examining the stone "How does the stone resist the heat? Is It magic? Or is there a stone that resits heat? Obsidian? No that wouldn't work, lava is 1200° ..."

"Genis what is the Professor on about?" Lloyd asked his friend quietly.

The silverette shook his head "If I explained it to you, you would end up with a headache."

"Fair enough." Lloyd shrugged, "So Colette, do you know what the first seal is?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Are you sure? Didn't the priests tell you anything?"

"Nope. They said I had to figure out on my own, or something." She furrowed her brow in thought, maybe there was something? No, not really.

"Well it is called a seal." Genis pointed out.

"This is going to take forever!" the dual swordsman whined. He didn't hear Kratos mumble quietly, "Well that didn't take long."

The youngest trio wandered around, trying to look for clues to get to the seal challenge, when Raine exclaimed; "I've got it! It's all magitechnology!"

They three jumped thinking she had found something. Though the Professor seemed proud of herself, they couldn't help but sigh. Maybe she was done examining the ruins for the moment.

"So, anyone have any ideas of how to proceed?" She asked, having finally calmed down.

In response, Colette looked at her feet, Lloyd and Genis shook their heads, and Kratos was suddenly very interested in the wall on his left. Luke on the other hand was studying something with geat intent.

'I can't read this.'

 **Maybe you should get Raine to teach you.**

'She is already suspicious of me as it is. Not being able to read would just add to that, and you're the one wanting me to keep quiet.'

 **You could pretend to be dsylexic.**

'Why are you even suggesting that?'

"Luke?"

The redhead looked up, noticing everyone was staring at him.

"Sorry, I think I found something, and was trying to figure it out." he apologised. Hoping this wouldn't turn into another set of accusations.

"Let me see." Raine ordered with gusto. Okay. Maybe she wasn't quite done. The Professor came over and saw what Luke was trying, and failing to read. "Hmm. It says there was once a city here that was destroyed but Efreet's hellfire."

"Well, that would explain the lava." Kratos noted, "Maybe we need to use fire."

"The Sorcerer's Ring!" Colette concluded as she fished the ring out of her pocket and lit a torch, without lighting her shoes on fire much to Lloyd's dismay, that created a platform. "It worked!"

Having finally found the answer to the riddle, getting through the ruins was rather simple in spite of the heat. They walked onto the teleporter that brought them into the final room.

"I still can't believe this entire place is made of magitechnology. Absolutely fantastic." Raine said in awe as she continued to look around.

"I wonder how it resists fire and lava." Luke wondered aloud. Ruins were strange places, and both this place and the Zao Ruins were in the desert. Weird.

In his pondering the redhead failed to notice Genis shaking his head, trying to communicate 'no don't, don't encourage her!' And thus, Raine almost pounced on him, another person showing intereste in ruins was a marvellous thing!

But before she could utter a word, the room grew tense as the light dimmed, from the altar in the centre particulars of red mana erupted, the room shook, as finally from the spout of lava the guardian of the first seal emerged.

"What the hell is that?" Genis cried out as he dodged the lava.

"I dunno but he looks cool! He has flames and a mohawk!" Lloyd replied as he readied his swords.

"He may be look cool, but don't let your guard down. The is a challenge for the Chosen." Kratos reminded as he prepared a spell.

The monster had a power over lava that made it very hard to get close without getting burnt, the only attacks that were of any effect were Genis' and Kratos' spells. Luke and Lloyd tried to get close and were rewarded with scorched clothes, and Colette was burning her hands on her chakrams as they came back.

"Lloyd! Distract the big one, the smaller ones can cast!" Luke shouted out as he ran, the other swordsman didn't seem happy about the orders.

"You distract it, and I'll go after the smaller one!" he shouted back. And the redheads frustration grew.

"Fine!" he shouted back, "Colette, back me up!" With one last order Luke ran forward and slashed at the beast, going for it's massive paws whilst avoiding the lava. Genis' spell took some of the pressure off and he was able to get round to the belly.

Colette bounced a chakram of the Ktugatch's muzzle, keeping it from biting Luke, as both Kratos and Lloyd took out the Ktugatchlings. Finally, with the two caster's down, everyone could concentrate on the big one.

With one final sword rush from Lloyd, the guardian vanished the same way it came into existence. Steam poured out of the altar as it opened, a strange shadow appearing for an instant.

"You, the Chosen of Regeneration, offer your prayers at the altar." Remiels voice boomed from nowhere. Everyone looked around, searching for the source except for Colette who merely acquiesced and walked up to perform her duty.

"Oh Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength!" The Chosen prayed as the mana slowly dwindled away, and from the heavens surrounded by a halo of light, Remiel descended onto the mortal plane.

"Colette, my dear daughter, you have done well." he congratulated Colette, though to Luke it sounded very much like Van's praise. The thought sent a chill down his spine. Maybe Lorelei wasn't wrong about doubting Cruxis.

"Thank you father." The Chosen replied slowly, as if uncertain, but Remiel paid no heed and continued.

"The guardian of the has fallen, and the first seal has been released. Efreet will surely awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis I shall grant you the power of the angels." The angel declared as a bright light descended out of the oculus engulfing the Chosen in a golden light before purple wings sprouted from her back.

Everyone watched in awe, her wings were beautiful, if not exactly what one would expect of an angel. Lloyd looked on mesmerised. Colette was truly becoming an angel and was going to save the world! Luke, though fascinated with the wings, couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

With a graceful flap of her wings, the Chosen arose into the sky, one step closer to the heavens and to her goal.

"The angel transformation will not be without pain. Yet, it is but for one night. Be strong and endure." Remiel warned the Chosen.

She bowed her head respectfully "I humbly accept this trial."

"The next seal lies far to the east, across the sea. Offer your prayers at the altar." The angel commanded

And the Chosen answered "Yes, Lord Remiel."

His duty accomplished the angel ascended to the heavens from whence he came, leaving the Chosen and her companions to reflect on his words.

As Colette descended, Lloyd was the first one to break the awe-stricken silence.

"Colette has wings!" he exclaimed, confused, bewildered, and a few other emotions he could neither place nor name ran through him. This was it, Colette was truly the Chosen!

"Uh-huh," she grinned "and look, I can put them away too."

"Wow! That is so cool!" Luke couldn't help saying. Wings! This was so much cooler than Mieu!

"Yeah! That's really cool." Genis agreed, giddy with excitement.

Colette, spured on by the two boys obvious joy, pulled her wings out again and flapped them sending small sparkles everywhere.

Behind them, Kratos, Raine and Lloyd were talking about the next course of action. The sea. Lloyd was visibly excited, Raine sounded less than pleased, and Kratos sounded very … Kratos.

Luke was watching Colette's wings still, he was fascinated. "Hey what are these made out of? They're not like bats wings or an axebeaks.

"That's actually a really good question." Genis realised "Colette do you know?"

"Nope" she replied "I can't actually feel them."

"Really? So I can touch them and you won't feel anything?" the redhead asked. Being an angel was weird.

"I don't know, but I am kind of curious too."

Just as Luke was going to reach his hand out, Lloyd decided he'd had enough of the grown up talk.

"Hey knock it off guys, we get it." he said sounding a bit annoyed.

All three turned around, and Colette turned of her wings.

"Okay." Genis and Colette said simultaneously. Luke said nothing. He wasn't going to apologise.

To this Lloyd huffed, but didn't bother giving a reply either. His two best friends went over to him, excited for what was to come. Colette turned to look at Luke, but he seemed deep in thought.

 **Hmm...**

'What's the matter?'

 **S.4000, The Chosen shall travel across the land and unlock the four seals, there her trust and strength shall be put to test, and the first angel of Martel she shall become.**

'Is that this planet's Score? I didn't think you could read it!'

 **Every planet has a Score, most just do not know it. The lack of Seventh Fonons makes it rather hard to read. What I saw was just a vague overview. I was curious, this journey shall not be easy.**

'I guessed that, when is anything ever easy? So, are you going to tell me what you are looking for?'

 **Not quite yet. Not until I am sure, I am sorry for making you wait Luke.**

"Luke? Are you coming?" Colette called

The redhead looked up and quickly followed.

* * *

It was still daytime when the Chosen's group came out of the ruins. Spirits were high from the completion of the first seal, and thus things looked like they were going to be okay. Until Colette collapsed.

"Colette! Are you okay!?" Lloyd rushed over, leaving the others behind. The Chosen quickly got up saying "I'm fine", but it was weak, and her voice trembled.

"You don't look fine at all! Your face is completely white!" Genis pointed out. He suddenly froze, "It's all my fault. I got carried away and kept making her pull out her wings." Luke paled at his words. Was it his fault as well?

Lloyd put a hand on his friends shoulder "I don't think that has anything to do with it." he tried. Genis really liked to blame himself he noted.

Raine was looking over Colette like a doting mother "Her lips are turning purple. We must get her to a doctor in the city immediately."

"But Raine, the city's too far from here." Luke reminded, unable to fully keep the panic out of his voice.

"Yes and it would be best not to move her." Kratos interjected, the only one thus far who had managed to keep a level head, "Remember the angels words; the transformation process requires her to overcome a trial."

"But I thought the flame dog was the trial!" Lloyd replied.

"Yes, and Remiel said that the transformation wouldn't be without pain. For now ze should let her rest here."

Raine wasn't happy, but she agreed none the less with Kratos and Luke, taking her across the desert would do more harm than good. "Fine, we'll set up camp here tonight."

At those words everyone got to work, Colette squirmed a little in place. "I'm okay, I'll be fine after a little rest. I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."

Lloyd rolled his eyes "Stop apologising all the time you dork! It's not as if you can help it. You were suddenly turned into an angel."

"You know you don't have to push yourself so hard for others. If you end up hurt everyone else will only worry." Luke added, Colette couldn't help but think he was speaking from experience.

"Well, I- you-" she sighed "you're right. I'm sorry."

"We really need to work on the whole 'not apologising' don't we?"

"I'm sorr-"

"Colette. Shut up."

As the sun began to fade and the fire crackled, everyone couldn't help but throw glances at Colette as she rested.

Kratos was talking with Lloyd, though Luke couldn't hear what they were on about. For a few days now Kratos and Lloyd could often be found together, with Noishe happily wedged between them. A strange thought popped into his head about how much Kratos and Lloyd looked like a family together. Weird. He shook himself from those thoughts. Stupid brain.

"Luke are you feeling well?" Raine inquired "We can't have someone else falling ill now can we?"

"No no, I'm fine. Just had some weird thoughts." The Professor raised an eyebrow, but Luke refused to answer so he changed the subject, "So, Raine, why do you think Colette is so sick?"

The Professor put a hand to her chin, "Well the angel transformation would be the most obvious reason, just saying that is far to broad a justification I think however. I am not an expert on human or angel biology, but I do believe it is her body adapting to the new influx of mana, and her brain rapidly making connections so she can easily control her wings."

Luke cringed "Wow, that sounds really complicated."

Raine seemed really surprised at his words "Luke! I did not think you would be like Lloyd when it came to your studies."

"Not all studies mention biology!" the redhead argued back.

Genis tried to intervene "Raine, he does have a point." He was ignored.

"Well they should! That way you would have more competent healers other than priests and priestesses."

The younger elf put his head in his hands, "Here we go again."

Luke leaned over, "Does Raine get worked up about a lot of things?" he whispered.

"Only archaeology and education." He whispered back.

"Oh. That's umm..."

"Yeah."

"They teach children complicated maths, but nothing about how to properly deal with a wound in case of an accident! It's madness. And maybe there should be cooking lessons..."

"Hey Genis, what's the Professor on about?" Lloyd asked as he walked over with Kratos and his bowls.

"Oh, the usual. By the way, how was the curry? I hope it was good."

"Don't worry, it was, but I think it was missing something."

"Wow, I'm surprised you noticed. I didn't have all the ingredients."

Luke was surprised "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, I was missing some kirima fruit."

"Oh, you're the one who made this?" Lloyd jumped back in.

"Who do you think made this?"

"Raine?"

"Aw Lloyd thank you, that's very sweet. Will you try my cooking next time?"

This time Luke didn't miss Genis rapidly shaking his head behind his sisters back mouthing " Not if you want to live."

A small giggle could be heard from where Colette was.

"Cool! Colette's awake! I'll go give her some food." Lloyd said, he seemed a lot more relieved and happier than before. "Man, it looks like becoming an angel is pretty rough."

Raine looked over at the young Chosen "Well, I can assume that her nervous system is adapting as theorised with Luke, but I do wonder if her entire biological structure is changing."

Lloyd paused serving the curry "Bio-what now?"

The Professor turned to Luke "See this is what I mean!" She thrust her arms towards Lloyd, she sighed heavily " In other words, I wonder if she is becoming a different life form."

"Colette is Colette." Lloyd simply stated with a shrug.

Luke stared as the other boy said those words. Colette is Colette? Seemed simple enough to understand, but to him, a replica, those words were something he craved to hear. That he wasn't a replacement and Luke did hear that, but Asch? Asch couldn't see that. He wondered if Asch would ever see beyond replacement and original.

 **I think he will one day.**

'I hope so. I don't want to duel him for Natalia's hand in marriage. He can keep her.'

The young noble heard a laugh bounce around his head and he couldn't help but grin. This was so much better than the stupid headaches he got. Speaking of which;

'Hey Lorelei? Can we get in contact with Asch?'

 **I wonder, he hasn't tried since we got here has he? I shall try.**

…

'Anything?'

 **No. Maybe your fon slots de-synced?**

'I don't think that's possible, even you don't sound sure of it.'

 **I never claimed to be an expert on fomicry.**

'Where is Jade when you need him? Probably being annoyed by Dist and Peony now that I think about it.'

 **Do not fret, we shall be home soon enough.**

'I wonder about that. I get hwat you mean by not trusting Cruxis, Remiel reminds me a little of Master Van.'

 **The One Who Seeks Glory? Was he truly like that?**

'Kind of, he would give me praise even though I didn't do anything good. It makes me wonder about this whole chosen thing, if it's really good or not.'

 **Well, this world does need mana, so for the moment I foresee no other possibility.**

"Haha! You got re-ject-ed." Genis sang merrily as Lloyd stomped into camp.

"Hey, shut up Genis!" the brunet shouted back as he went straight for his bedroll. Damn, Luke thought, he had missed something good!

* * *

"So Professor, where are we headed today?" Lloyd asked, a lot more chipper compared to the night before. Seemed like him and Colette made up.

"Well, Remiel said we need to go east across the sea, so we are following the Ossa Trail to get to Izoold and shall take a boat from there." She explained, a slight shiver running through her as she mentioned going across the sea. Luke fought hard to stop his grin, she couldn't be?

"This place has lots of plants!" Colette remarked as she skipped along, almost too happy.

"Yeah it does, weird its so close to the desert." Lloyd agreed, and everyone heard the frustrated groan from Raine.

The walk had been pretty uneventful, the ordeal of the day before seemed like it wouldn't repeat, that was until;

"Stop!" someone shouted from beyond the trees, everyone turned to see a woman clad in purple and black, with a pink ribbon around her waist, standing high above them on a cliff, she jumped down blocking the path ahead.

"What?" Lloyd called out. The Chosen's group stopped, now what did she want?

Colette looked between the two "Is she a friend of yours, Lloyd? " she asked innocently.

Luke was speechless, as was Kratos. Colette seemed to find new ways to surprise them everyday.

"Not that I'm aware of." The brunet answered.

The woman face scrunched up in annoyance "Is the Chosen of Mana amoung you?" she demanded.

And of course Colette answered "Oh, that's me." Luke had to fight the urge to slam his head on the cliff. He liked Colette, she was nice, but why?

The woman grinned like a cat as she readied her weapon "Prepare to die!"

* * *

 **AN:** **Oh man, sorry for no update in July, I got pretty ill. Anyway, Please, do say if something seems wrong with this chapter because I had a lot of trouble writing it, especially the Ktugach fight. I don't think I've ever struggled so much with a chapter, so yeah as I said please do mention if you see anything wrong with it.**

 **Onto the reviews!**

 **Love Psycho:** **Sorry I didn't reply to this last chapter, I sometimes get so caught up in getting the chapters out I forget. Yes, my actual 'first' chapter, it was a lot of fun to write, even though the point of view jumping could be a little dizzying. And Lloyd does have a keen eye, noticing Kratos' exsphere and other things that are potentially spoilers. The Desian thing didn't get cleared up as quickly as it could have, and I really wanted Luke to be annoyed with Asch, the grump is always on the wrong side. Thanks for reviewing again!**

 **Guest:** **Yes, the boys will never have it easy. But Asch means well, somewhat. And yeah, saying I'm back is rather funny when I then vanish again for a month. But thank you for your kind words.**

 **Aki:** **Really? I didn't even notice if I put one last chapter. I did this one however, Reflections is one of my favourite fics anyway, I'll give you a hint, it's in the Cheagle woods, it's not a big one though. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Again, thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, follows and favourites this story, and I'll see you next chapter, Toodles!**


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